The Crypton Crew
by MargaritaDaemonelix
Summary: "When 911 can't, the Crypton Crew can." Kagamine Rin is given the chance to join a legendary force of young adults solving issues in Crypton City. The problem is, will her heart let her? Rated T for mild adult humor, violence and character death.
1. Chapter 1

THE CRYPTON CREW

By MargaritaDaemonelix

Chapter 1: To the Drawing Board

It was a beautiful summer afternoon. The skies were blue, the clouds were drifting across the sky lazily, and there was a cool breeze that countered the swelling heat of the sun.

Yet the afternoon wasn't perfect at all.

Why?

The Crypton City Hall was up in flames.

A school group hurried out of the building, led by a man with black hair and round glasses and a young woman with bright blue hair. "Twenty eight… Twenty nine… Where's Yuki? Kaai Yuki?" Panicked the teacher, Kiyoteru Hiyama. "She was talking to the mayor's assistant the last I saw her," said a young boy at the back of the class, raising his hand.

Kiyoteru scowled. Yuki was definitely a little too curious for her own good sometimes. "Lapis, watch them," he told his assistant. "Everyone, stay with Miss Aoki, alright?" He barked at the class. "Yes, sir!" Came the reply. Lapis grinned. "Everyone to the bus stop!"

As the class cleared away to the bus stop, Kiyoteru's confident grin melted off his face. Glaring at the burning building, he was about to make his way in when a red pickup truck screeched to a stop on the lawn. "The Crypton Crew!" Gasped Kiyoteru. The group of young adults was legendary in Crypton for saving lives everywhere. Their motto, somewhat ironically, was "When 911 can't, the Crypton Crew can."

The fire department and the police were _so_ pissed.

The driver's door opened to reveal a man with short, dark blue hair, a white coat wrapped around him loosely and a blue scarf dangling off his neck and shoulders. He pulled a laptop out of his bag and began typing something furiously. "Meiko, can you save the building?" He asked the brunette next to him. She pulled on a pair of fingerless black gloves, glancing at the blueprint that the blue haired man had pulled up. "I'll see what I can do."

The back door opened to reveal a young woman with short, vivid green hair. "Megpoid reporting for duty," she told the others, strapping on a pair of white goggles with pink lenses. "Find out what caused the fire, Gumi," instructed the man still working on the computer, who was probably the leader of the group, hacking into a GPS satellite somewhere.

Meiko was climbing into the first story window when flames began licking at her bare knees. "Dammit," she yelled at the leader. "Kaito, flames have reached the first floor!"

A purple blur came running to her. "Gackpo, can you do anything about it?" Asked Meiko. The man next to her swung his long purple hair around and peered into the building. "Water balloons, maybe?" He offered. Meiko glared at him. "Whaaaat?"

Kiyoteru saw an opening and ran to the truck. "Please, can you save my student? She's trapped in there with the mayor's assistant!" He pleaded. A tall woman with pink hair walked out of the truck, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright, she'll be fine," assured the woman softly. "C'mon, we're the freaking Crypton Crew! We can handle things."

Out of the trunk of the truck jumped a young woman, barely out of her teens, with incredibly long teal pigtails. "Luka's got that right," she said nonchalantly. "See? Even Miku says so, and Miku never agrees with me on anything," said Luka, quite amused.

A shriek of horror rose over the crackling flames. Gumi came running back to the group, her eyes wide. "Gumi?" Asked Kaito, uncertain of what had happened. "A girl just ran into the building," spluttered the green-haired woman, shaking the hair out of her face as she removed her goggles. "Around twenty, blonde hair, blue eyes, shorter than me."

Kaito scowled. "Dammit," he muttered, peering into the back of the truck. A few grappling hooks were not going to do anything to help the people now doubtlessly trapped inside the building. This was going to be a tight mission.

The one remaining closed door of the truck opened as a young man with icy blue eyes and blonde hair stepped out. "Len, we're in a little trouble," said Kaito. Len cracked his knuckles, the sunlight dancing off his hair turning it golden. "Leave it to me."

As he was about to make his way into the building, a young woman with equally blonde hair, wearing a tan trench coat, came flying out of the building, Kaai Yuki in her arms. Aoki Merli, the mayor's assistant and Lapis's older sister, climbed out after her, coughing.

Len groaned, turning back to the truck. He'd never been upstaged before, especially not by a _citizen!_ "Vigilante," he muttered under his breath. Kaito grabbed his arm before he could get back into the truck. "I have the security tapes here. Like it or not, Len, we could use a team member who shows so much courage and potential," he scolded. "She just wants to be famous," growled Len. "Maybe get a boyfriend. Get into the news. Be awarded for saving two people. She isn't worth going after."

As if on cue, someone yelled "Hey! Where's that girl that saved Yuki and Merli?" off in the distance. Kaito turned to Len, his face reading _See?_ _Kaitooooo~ knows best!_ "Miku, can you track her down?" He asked the girl with the teal pigtails beside him. "Last known location?" She asked, exchanging the sandals on her feet for a pair of lightweight running shoes. "Signal and Cendrillion," called Luka after the disappearing Miku. "IT'S ADOLESCENCE THERE, NOT CENDRILLION!" She hollered as she ran, but no one really heard her.

Now all the Crew had to do was kill time. After the fire was put out completely, and those injured and harmed were taken to the hospital, the Crypton Crew waited patiently outside the ruined City Hall for Miku. Gackpo found a willow tree and, using his long purple hair, managed to climb to the top to be a lookout. Len went back into the truck, scrolling down the windows so he could get a cool breeze. Kaito ran to the nearest ice cream store to get a cone, and came back with a triple scoop-vanilla on top, strawberry in the middle and mint chocolate chip at the bottom.

The girls weren't as… _Productive_ as the guys were, and ultimately sat in the grass to enjoy the sun. Meiko braided willow twigs, Luka braided clover flowers and Gumi braided Luka's hair. After about half an hour of this… _Level of productivity_ , in which Kaito had finished his ice cream, Gackpo gave a shrill scream and jumped out of the tree, tripping over his belt as he landed and faceplanting in the grass. "Miku, incoming!" He yelled, peeling himself off the lawn.

Sure enough, Miku was coming back, with the blonde woman tied to a children's wagon that the teal haired girl had leeched off some unfortunate person's lawn. The sweat pouring off Miku's face said it all as she collapsed on the grass. "Never again," she declared before dropping her head on the grass and laying there, exhausted.

Meiko calmly undid the slightly unnecessary knots that Miku had done to tie the young woman to the seat. "Sorry Miku had to pull the grappling hooks on you," she whispered gently. "She usually isn't like this."

"HEY!" Came the indignantly angry reply. "I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I HAD NO OTHER CHOICE! SHE WAS RESISTING POTENTIAL ARREST!"

The blonde woman scowled. "I'm being arrested?!" She demanded, flexing her wrists. "I moved here today! Is this some kind of sick joke that happens to everyone moving to Crypton City? I went into a burning building to save two people. I think I've had enough drama for one day, don't you?"

The others glanced at each other wearily. _She could out-rant Len easily if she tried._

Luka stepped forwards. "I'm sorry if we scared you," she said soothingly. "You're not being arrested. We-well, at least I do-we think you're very brave, and quite full of potential, and really, we could use someone like that on our team," she explained. "We're the Crypton Crew. We come into emergency situations when no one else can. And right now, we're still a small group. So we want to welcome you into the Crypton Crew. You can stay at my house too. We can try a three-month installment, with full pay, and if you want to stay afterwards, you can stay, and if you want to go, you can go. So whaddya say?"

Gumi snorted, having tied the end of Luka's braid with the grass braid Luka had made. "Lu-chan has a way with words. Long story short, you work with us three months, and at the end you decide what you want to do. You good?"

The blonde woman blushed. "I don't work well in these situations," she murmured. Luka slugged her in the shoulder. "You practically _flew_ in there and saved Yuki and Merli," she chittered. "C'mon, help us out?"

Uncertainty lining her face, the young woman nodded. Luka beamed. "Great! I'm Megurine Luka. I work with calming down panicking people and stuff like that. What's your name, sweet?"

"My name is Kagamine Rin. I came here from Sapporo," said Rin. "I worked in a chemical factory there until recently."

Kaito pushed his way to the front of the circle to face Rin. "I'm Shion Kaito, leader of the team. I do the hacking and stuff, and annoying Len-Len," he said, earning a punch from the brunette standing next to him. "Sakine Meiko. I do the building plans and electrical stuff," she said, shaking Rin's hand eagerly as Kaito writhed on the ground next to her.

"Camui Gackpo. I do forensics!"

"Name's Megumi, but you can call me Gumi. I also go by Megpoid. My specialty is mechanics and weapons. Well, firearms, really. Blades are more up Gackpo's lane…"

"I'm Hatsune Miku. Disguise artist, sprinter, etc."

"…"

Everyone turned to the truck, where Len was now fast asleep, wearing a pair of massive sunglasses. "And that's Len," said Kaito, rather amused. "He calculates the timeframe the crime happens in. He also does whatever the rest of us don't-like jumping into burning buildings."

Rin froze. "What's his last name?" She asked cautiously, like she was afraid of the answer.

And she _was._ She already knew it.

"Kagamine. Same as yours. Why?"

Rin smiled gracefully, masking her fears. "Oh, just curious."

Yet there was something ever so unsettling about her smile, something that made one think that curiosity wasn't the only reason why she'd asked.

* * *

 **A/N: Yes, I named the streets in Crypton City after Vocaloid songs. Ones that are spin-offs of others, or are interconnected somehow, are in essence the same street. It'll come into play later on, just you wait and see.**

 **First Vocaloid fic! I've had this one cluttering up in my folders for a while now. I'll draw a cover for it... Eventually. Until then, enjoy~!**

 **-MargaritaDaemonelix**


	2. Chapter 2

THE CRYPTON CREW

By MargaritaDaemonelix

Chapter 2: Moving Day, Big Day

"Wait. You guys want me to move in with you?"

Luka rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "Yeah… My house is really big. We girls have the master bedroom, the guys get a smaller room, my mom has a room, and there's three more rooms that no one sleeps in, along with the attic," she explained. "It's our headquarters. Since you're going to be working with us, you might as well live with us."

Rin blinked before breaking into a huge grin. "Sure! If it isn't a bother, of course…" She glanced at the members of the team, who just _pshawed_ and waved aside her fears. "It'll be fine. Let's go get your stuff from your apartment," directed Kaito. "Rin, do you have a car?"

"Yeah," replied Rin. "My navy blue Toyota Aqua."

Everyone stared at her like she'd just grown bunny ears. "What?" She demanded. "I'm fairly certain 'Aqua` is _not_ a Toyota car," said Gackpo skeptically, sipping from a bottle of water. Rin opened her mouth to argue, but never got the chance. One of the truck's doors opened as a young man with blonde hair climbed out and removed his sunglasses.

"Aqua is what they call the Toyota Prius in certain parts of the world, namely Tokyo."

The voice only confirmed what she already knew and was afraid of. Rin found herself staring into Len's icy blue eyes. His eyes…

They weren't all that icy when she'd left…

Len walked over to her and shook her hand. "Welcome to the team," he said. "I'm Len." Rin blushed a little as she grasped his larger hand and shook it, trying to keep his fingers from touching hers. "T-thanks," she stuttered, pulling her hand away.

Sliding his sunglasses into his pocket, Len turned to the rest of the team. "We three guys will take Rin's keys to her apartment and get her stuff in the truck. You five girls, go on Rin's Aqua and drive to Luka's house. We'll meet you there."

Behind him, Kaito was silently pouting and mouthing "And I'm supposed to be the leader", making Meiko blush and giggle.

The water Gackpo was drinking came flying out of his nose.

As Gackpo hastily mopped up the mess, Rin took her apartment keys off her keychain. The accessory she normally had on it was a picture of her and… Him. Now, she had replaced it with one her company had given her. She handed the keys to Len, who looked disappointed.

"Shall we?" She asked sweetly, turning away from Len and to the girls, who were wondering where Rin had parked her Pri-Aqua. Rin led them to the place Miku had caught her-a large parking lot. She unlocked the Aqua, opening the driver's door and sliding in. "Get in, girls," she said, smirking.

Gumi took shotgun, while Meiko and Miku sat on either side of Luka in the back. It was cramped, but the girls were all very slim, and they fit comfortably inside. Rin turned the key in the ignition, and they were off, cruising through the streets of Crypton.

Meiko leaned across the seat. "Hey, Rin," she began, scratching the back of her head. "If you had a job in Sapporo, why'd you come here?" "I got fired for messing with stuff I shouldn't have been messing with," admitted Rin sheepishly. Well, that, and something else too, but she would never tell anyone.

 _Flashback_

 _"Rin, are your parents still doing that arranged marriage thing?"_

 _It was a peaceful summer evening, the glow of the sunset bathing Tokyo in gold. Rin and Len were lazing around in Rin's treehouse, sipping cold sodas and kissing every once in a while. "Yup. Yours too?" Came Rin's casual reply as she took another long pull of her ginger ale._

 _Len chuckled and pulled Rin closer to him. "Well, I hope they get in their right minds soon, because I ain't letting anyone touch my princess," he said. Rin blushed and leaned in for another kiss, letting her lips linger with his for a moment longer than usual before-_

 _"RIN!"_

 _"LEN!"_

 _"Gotta go," they murmured in unison, foreheads still pressed together. Len placed one last, passionate kiss on Rin's lips before running off. "Good night, milady!"_

 _With that, Len slid down the tree(!) and ran back to his own home. Rin watched wistfully as he made his way across the street and disappeared from view before packing up the remaining sodas. Carefully slinging the package across her shoulders, she climbed down the side of the treehouse carefully, walking in through the open front door of her quaint home._

 _Her mother, Rui Kagene, was waiting for her with wide eyes. "Rin, sweetheart, guess what happened?" She chittered. "We finalized the marriage! You're getting married!"_

 _Shoving the marriage papers and a golden ring into her daughter's hands, Rui spun around the room before stopping in front of Rin, her eyes sparkling. "Well?"_

 _Rin turned completely red. "HOW COULD YOU?!" She yelled, making her father, Rei, run into the room as well. "RIN! We have done everything we could to just make you happy, and now you give us this? You're grounded, young lady, and don't expect us to vouch for your absences," shouted Rei angrily, pointing to the staircase. Rin turned away, holding in her tears as she violently stormed up the stairs, slamming the door once she'd reached her room and locking it._

 _For a moment, she considered calling Len and asking him to elope with her, but she doubted he'd be able to. After all, he was in an arranged marriage too. Instead, Rin began to toss her own belongings into two suitcases, and stuffing her marriage papers and the ring into her backpack. Her anger blinded her as she opened the window and tossed her suitcases onto the open grass below. Grabbing a sticky note, she jotted a quick note on it._

 _"I'm almost twenty. I can live on my own. Please, just stay out of my life._

 _"Rin"_

 _Having finished her note to her parents, she grabbed the nearest curtain and swung out the open window. As soon as she hit the end of the curtain, she jumped down, landing safely on the soft grass. "Goodbye," she whispered to the house as she ran around it, opening the garage door a little so she could slide her suitcases and, ultimately, herself, underneath._

 _Inside was the beautiful white Toyota Aqua she'd gotten for her birthday. She would have to get it painted a different colour later. Making as little sound as she possibly could, she opened the back trunk and hefted her suitcases in before slipping into the driver's seat and hitting the button that would open the garage door._

 _"RIN?!"_

 _"Oh shoot," she murmured. Her parents had found out. There was no time to raise the garage door the whole way. Rin stepped on the acceleration pedal the moment the ignition came to life, leaving a hole in the door, and, as her parents watched in horror, rocketed off into the distance._

 _End Flashback_

"RIN WE'RE HERE OH MAKER TURN RIGHT TURN RIGHT TURN RIGHT-"

Rin snapped out of her daze and took a sharp turn right, sending the girls in her car into a frantic, flying mess. Thank goodness they all had the sense to wear seatbelts. The moment she stopped the car in Luka's garage, she whipped off her own seatbelt and looked into the Aqua, where the girls were groaning. "Everyone alright?" She asked.

Gumi was fine, albeit a little tousled. "I'm alive," she shuddered. Meiko, in the backseat, was holding her head and trying not to spin around. "A little dizzy…"

Miku, on the other hand, was poking Luka, who wasn't moving. "G-girls? Luka's kinda unresponsive…" She murmured. A young woman with cherry red twin drill tails suddenly slammed open a door on the other side of the garage, her red eyes blazing with violent fire. For a moment, her shadows dancing around the garage gave her the appearance of a chimera.

"OKAY! Who are you, and what did you do to my daughter?!" Demanded the furious… Demon? Before Rin could squeak "nothing!", Luka groaned and sat up. "I'm fiiine, mom," she drawled. "Just a little nausea. Stop terrorizing poor Rinny! She's completely innocent."

The demon's eyes dimmed down to a softer cherry colour, somewhat like her hair. "Great! I'm Kasane Teto, m'dear. I'm Luka's mom, but don't call me anything but Teto. It makes me feel younger," chirped Teto happily. Rin looked her over, noting her youthful appearance. She looked like she was thirty, tops. "How… How do you look so young?"

Teto laughed sweetly. "Magic, m'dear. Magic."

The truck suddenly pulled into the garage, filled with an assortment of boxes. A side door opened as Gackpo flew out. "HELLO, Teto! Didja miss me~?" He asked, eyes sparkling. "That I did, Gackpo. Go on in, kids. Dinner is ready," chuckled Teto.

At this, Kaito threw the driver's door open too. "Didja get me ice cream?" He asked, equally starry-eyed. Out of the corner of her eye, Rin saw Meiko smirk. "Of course! Now hurry along, kids. Dinner's getting cold~!" Sang Teto, herding them into the house.

Len waited until everyone was in the house before coming out of the truck himself. Teto flounced over to him, leaning to whisper in his ear. "You found a good one this time, Len. Don't let her get away."

Yet the blonde said nothing, his icy eyes cold and calculating as he followed the others in for dinner.

* * *

 **A/N: I'll let you guys imagine who Luka's father is. He doesn't appear in this fic, but oh well.**

 **Thank you all for reading!**

 **~MargaritaDaemonelix**


	3. Chapter 3

THE CRYPTON CREW

By MargaritaDaemonelix

Chapter 3: Good Morning

"Rin? Rinny, time to wake up!"

A sliver of piercing light streamed into the tiny crack of Rin's opened eyes. Groaning, she tossed a little, trying to get her sleep back-

"RINNY!"

-Pink hair, blue eyes? Who was this…

Slowly, Rin's eyelids fluttered open. _Ah, that's right. I'm living with the Crypton Crew now._ "Moooooorning Luka," she yawned.

"Morning, Rin," greeted the woman happily. "Time to wake up now. We've got a case. One of the mayor's daughter's cats got stuck their roof."

Rin made a noise that sounded like a foghorn. "Lure the poor creature down with a piece of catnip. It'll be _fine_ ," she complained.

"Sorry, Rin. The cat doesn't have a tail. It won't jump, and even if it does, it'll break something. Rin, we need to go help it," replied Luka, nervously glancing at her watch.

"Just three minutes, 'kay?" Asked Rin groggily, rolling out of her nice… _warm_ … bed…

"That's two minutes and thirty seconds too late. I'm going to have to leave you here to die," chittered Luka, making a beeline for the door. Rin shrugged it off. _Normal Crypton Crew activity._

She began rifling through her clothes for a nice outfit, eventually settling for a white short-sleeved shirt with a treble clef insignia on the chest. On it she layered a black "sailor" cape and added a pair of black shorts with a yellow ribbon to the mix. All it was missing now was-

"WAKE UP! WAKE UP ROOSTER! WE'RE ALL READY FOR YOUR COCKLE-DOODLE-DOO!"

Rin jumped three feet into the air as Luka's mother-Teto-came marching in, belting out a ditty and parading around waving a baguette in the air. Rin shuddered. _It's just the Crypton Crew norms. I'll have to get used to it._ At the door, Luka peeked through and mouthed "Sorry" at Rin, who just waved it off. Smiling genuinely, she turned to Teto. "Morning, Teto."

The woman stopped her spiel and smiled back at Rin. "Good morning, m'dear!" She chirped happily. "Hold on… You need something for your sailor cape…"

Teto thought for a moment before producing a length of yellow, silky fabric out of seemingly nowhere. At Rin's expression, she chuckled. "Magic, m'dear, magic," she said as she gingerly tied it into a beautiful floppy bow at the base of her sailor cape.

"I… Thank you, Teto," beamed Rin. Teto surprised her with an earth-shaking glomp, which then just subsided to a bear hug. A very intense bear hug.

"Rin, can you promise me something? Please?" Whispered Teto, closing her eyes as she held Rin tightly.

"Uh… Sure?" Said Rin.

"Please, I beg you. Rin, please fix Len."

Rin's mind spun as she was suddenly bombarded with returning memories, ones she had tried to abandon on cold, moonlit nights. Memories of the treehouse, the promises they'd made as kids, their first kiss, and everything in between resurfaced through her mind.

And for some reason, Rin was fairly certain Teto knew all of them.

Teto gripped Rin a little tighter. "Please, Rin. Len's attitude changed the moment you arrived. He was cold when we first met him, but it got better, and then you showed up and he suddenly shut everyone out and refuses to talk to anyone about it. Rin, you two have a history, don't you? You're the girl that he loves, who disappeared into the void last year. You know him better than any of us. Rin, you've got to help us."

"All of us."

Rin squeezed her eyes shut. "Teto… I'll do my best," she promised.

The following moment was like all the _sappiness and cheesiness and heartbreakiness_ had just drained out of Teto. "Great!" She chirped. "See you downstairs. I have to go annoy Luka some more."

With those words out of her mouth, Teto picked up her baguette and _skipped_ out of the bedroom. Rin smiled, but it was a sad smile that adorned her face. Delicately, she stepped out of the room and down the stairs.

… And immediately recoiled from the heck of a breakfast she was witnessing.

The kitchen, as Rin had learned the previous night, was always stocked with French bread of all sorts, since Teto had an obsession with it. Meiko was eating some, since Teto didn't let her drink sake before ten p.m. That was where the _normalness_ ended.

Luka was enjoying some canned tuna, while feeding her pet octopus some as well. Miku was sipping coffee and breaking chunks off a spring onion to eat. Gumi was dipping carrot sticks into salad dressing and eating them. Gackpo was doing the same with _raw eggplants._ Rin grimaced at the thought of the diarrhea that would follow along with it.

And Kaito, as the ever-astute leader of the Crypton Crew, had his feet up on the table and was reading the newspaper as he lapped up an ice cream cone like a kitten would a bowl of warm milk. Rin sighed. _Abnormality_ , she thought as she looked around for something to eat that wouldn't drive her insane. On the table, behind Kaito's feet, was a basket of fresh fruit. Beyond the bunch of bananas that obstructed most of the view, Rin could see a few oranges.

 _Oranges._

"I bade you stand with me, men of the west! ORANGEEEEEEES!"

Rin's squeal of glee gave the others just enough time to _hit the deck_. Everyone scrambled as Rin dove at the oranges. Kaito's ice cream pretty much went flying into the sink.

Someone clapped slowly from the staircase. Rin froze. So that's who was missing.

She turned around, a forced smile on her face. Of course it was _Len_ who went and bought oranges to put in the fruit basket, and it was _Len_ who wore the exact same thing as her!

Len's icy eyes sparkled with mischievous energy as he came down the stairs. He had virtually an identical outfit to Rin's, but with a bass clef where Rin had a treble clef, longer shorts, and a yellow tie instead of Teto's yellow bow. Smirking, he tipped his head to the right, observing the mayhem Rin had just caused.

"Note to self: new member is demolition-gifted," he teased. Rin huffed and puffed, but said nothing, even as Len trailed his fingers up to touch her hair, and in that instant, Rin knew she'd forgotten her bow. Hopefully Len wouldn't notice.

 _Flashback_

 _Rin sat alone in the treehouse, worried out of her mind. Where was Len?_

 _The two had turned ten last winter. It was spring-warm and breezy. The scent of fresh-cut grass filled Rin's mind as a whirring noise came up from the other side of the road. The neighbors were trimming their lawn again with that Kami-damned loud lawnmower._

 _A rustle came up from below. The door to the treehouse opened as Len climbed up, exhausted, only to be immediately glomped by Rin. "Where were you?" She demanded, hands on hips. "I was picking something up," panted Len as he took the offending object out of his pocket, handing it to Rin._

 _She found herself holding a silky white bow. "Oh," she breathed, somewhat surprised that her best friend would get her something just for the heck of it. "I saw it at the market this morning," explained Len, "and I just had to get it for you. But I didn't have any money on me, so I had to run to get it, and run back and buy it, and then I had to run here."_

 _He plucked the bow out of Rin's fingers and pulled it around her hair, tying it in a floppy bow above her head. "There," he said, moving back to admire his handiwork. Rin, however, lunged and pulled him into another hug, snuggling her face into his tie._

 _"Thank you, Len," she said happily. Len smiled. "Anything for my princess."_

 _End Flashback_

Len calmly pushed back a lock of hair from Rin's forehead. _Oh gosh, he knows. He knows,_ panicked Rin internally. _Play the dark angel, Rin. Even if he knows, you don't have to._

"Do you have a bow of some sort? I think it would complete your look," asked Len softly.

Rin groaned inwardly. _I'll never wear my bow again._ "Really?" She asked. Len nodded. "I guess I'll look for one the next time I go shopping," she concluded.

Len's eyes shimmered with dangerous energy. Rin knew him well enough to understand what he felt: disappointment.

Luckily, Kaito flounced up at that moment. "Aren't you two just like twins?" He gushed. "Rin, when's your birthday?"

 _Flashback_

 _"Hey Rin, you know why we have the same birthday?"_

 _"I actually don't."_

 _"Apparently our moms were best friends in high school, and turns out they had a baby shower the night before we were born."_

 _"So?"_

 _"They ate too much and went into the labor at the same time."_

 _"… Uck. Remind me to never have a potluck during my ninth month, if I ever have kids."_

 _End flashback_

"November seventeenth," blurted Rin. Somehow giving the strangers her lunar calendar birthday seemed right.

"Oh," said Kaito, slightly disappointed.

Meiko smacked him in the shoulder, earning a high-pitched squeal. "Let's go," she barked. "There's a cat in distress."

Teto stood at the door, watching as all the various members of the Crypton Crew pulled on shoes and boots of all kinds. Miku's teal-accented black boots came up above her knees, which highly surprised Rin. Luka wore tan combat boots, while Meiko opted for ankle-height leather boots, and Gumi wore white fabric boots with a green lining that folded out. Gackpo wore a pair of indigo boots that matched his hair somewhat. Kaito plucked a pair of blue rain boots off the shoe rack. _Function over form,_ thought Rin.

"Rin, what shoes are you going to wear?" Asked Miku innocently. Rin had learned the previous night that Miku was only eighteen, two whole years younger than her, but a solid six centimetres taller. It was rather embarrassing.

"I think I'll stick to my sneakers," replied Rin, noticing Len still wore black leg warmers over his. They'd gotten a pair each at a festival, so their outfits would match since his sneakers had black patterns, and Rin's were just white.

Balance had never been one of Rin's finer points, however, and as she pulled on her sneaker, she lost whatever shred of the skill she had and toppled backwards, landing perfectly in Len's open arms. He stared at her, eyes icy as ever. Rin was _so_ tempted to just kiss him and be done with the whole ordeal, but he gave her a small boost, enough for her to grab the wall. "Thanks, shota-boy," she teased before heading out.

Only after she'd gotten on the car did she remember that she and she alone called Len "shota-boy".

* * *

The truck jolted as Kaito drove over _another_ pothole. "Sorry," he yelled over the complaining girls in the trunk of the truck. Len shook the dust out of his hair and leaned back in his seat, trying to clear his mind. Ever since Rin showed up, he hadn't been giving a hundred percent in everything he did.

Rin, oh Rin. How did she never fail to make Len's heartbeat race and his mind fly somewhere a thousand light years away? The brief moments that Len had gotten that morning, those few moments when he'd felt her soft, orange-shampoo scented hair, and held her in his arms, were moments he barely recognised anymore. A year apart had isolated Rin from him.

Silently, Len let out a sigh. Rin and Miku were in the back (thankfully) so they wouldn't hear his whispers as he tried to find a way to ask Rin to come back to him. "Yo, Lenners, what are you whispering?" Drawled Gumi as she nibbled a carrot.

"When was I whispering?" Retorted the blond.

"Just now," yawned the green-haired girl, leaning back and pulling her magenta goggles over her eyes.

Len smirked, ready to kick back and enjoy a moment or two of peace and qui-

"KAITO, ISN'T _THAT_ THE MAYOR'S HOUSE?!"


	4. Chapter 4

THE CRYPTON CREW

By MargaritaDaemonelix

Chapter 4: On the Case

 _We now resume where the author left a horrid cliffy last chapter…_

"KAITO, ISN'T _THAT_ THE MAYOR'S HOUSE?!"

 _Or_ not.

Meiko's terrified scream pierced the air as Kaito realized that the big scene was happening _behind them_. "Hold on!" He hollered, taking a swift U-turn. Miku and Rin, who weren't aware, had grab on to whatever they could as they screamed for their dear lives.

The truck stopped on the mayor's driveway as Kaito's head popped back up. "Who's alive?" He immediately yelled, hand shooting into the air.

Meiko glared at him from the shotgun seat, eyes blazing."I'm a better driver than you, even when I'm _drunk!_ " She snarled.

Gumi, Gackpo and Luka were sprawled in various positions around the truck. "Is that my foot?!" Yelped Luka, trying to move a boot-clad foot to the right position.

"HEY! That's my foot!" Hollered Gackpo, trying to free Gumi from his hair. Thankfully Len had escaped unscathed.

There was just one problem…

"Rin! Rinny, are you alright?"

Len's entire being kicked into high drive as he heard Miku's panicked shouts. Ignoring Gackpo's cries as he stepped over the taller man, Len rushed out of the truck and dashed around the corner. Sitting on the grass, rubbing her hip, was a slightly tousled Rin.

"Did you fall out of the trunk?" Asked Len gently, helping her up.

"Yeah," winced Rin.

"Does it hurt a lot?" He pressed.

Rin shrugged. "Not as bad as the time I fell from a treehouse-ergh." She stopped to compose herself and said no more about the matter.

 _Lies,_ thought Len, _all lies made to try and deceive me._ He knew perfectly well what the real story behind it was- Rin hadn't just fallen out of _a_ treehouse. She fell out of _their_ treehouse.

* * *

 _Flashback_

 _Rin's scream of pain pierced the quiet afternoon. As fast as he could, Len climbed down from the treehouse to hold his best friend. "Did you just fall off the treehouse?" He asked._

 _Rin nodded, her face tear-stricken. "Yeah," she whimpered._

" _Does it hurt a lot?" Asked Len, placing one soothing hand on the ankle that Rin held, making her wince a little._

" _Yeah," continued Rin in a very small voice. "Len, please don't go."_

 _And Len, being the good friend he was, kissed her forehead and smiled. "Don't worry, I won't," he promised._

 _End Flashback_

* * *

Rin pulled herself with Len's hand. "Thank you for helping," she told him, a delicate smile on her lips, "but I'll be fine."

She flounced off without another word. It didn't take Len very long to realize that the smile she had on was most definitely false.

Arriving at the scene at last, Len approached a slightly hysteric woman with flowy, pale blonde hair. A pair of nekomimi were tucked into her hair, but Len wondered whether they were just décor, or perhaps something else. "Hello miss, I'm part of the Crypton Crew. We're here to save the cat," he told her calmly.

The woman grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him roughly. "Please, you have to! Fluffy was the first cat our little Iroha saved," she sobbed. "We'll do our best," replied Len, slightly shocked. Now he was certain that this woman was SeeU, the wife of the mayor.

Meanwhile, Luka was comforting a young girl with brilliant pink hair, rivalling Luka's own. The girl had put her hair into two nekomimi as well, imitating her mother's. This was Iroha Nekomura, the daughter of mayor Yohio and SeeU. As young as she was, she was one of the city's greatest animal rights protectors. Over a hundred injured, homeless and begging cats lived in their relatively small house, completely outnumbering the humans residing there.

"Miss Luka, will Fluffy be alright?" Asked Iroha tearfully. Luka gave the girl a big smile. "C'mon, we're the Crypton Crew! Where 911 can't, we can, remember?" She said playfully. "I'm sure someone is climbing on the roof right now to get your Fluffy back, safe and sound."

She followed this up with a deliberate glare at Len, who rolled his eyes and turned to the house. His moment of _totally not verbal-verbal irony_ , however, was shattered when he saw Rin standing on the roof, facing the cat.

Without a second thought, Len ran up to the house, arms wide open. "RIN!" He yelled. "GET DOWN THIS INSTANT!" Rin simply ignored him, like the sweetheart she was. Calmly, she sank to all fours and approached the cat. Miraculously, it didn't run off.

That being said, there wasn't much space for it to run.

Scooping Fluffy up, Rin began to inch her way down the drain pipe of the house, pressing her toes into any chink in the wall she could find. Len didn't move from his position, however, and was ready to catch her at any moment.

Suddenly, Rin's foot slipped out of a chink. The gathered people gasped(quite a few cats did too). SeeU buried her face in Yohio's chest and cried, while Luka had to physically hold Iroha back from the scene. Fluffy screeched and jumped out of Rin's arms, landing on the unsuspecting Kaito's head.

Rin herself struggled to hold on to the pipe, and for a moment, as she locked eyes with Len, she looked genuinely afraid.

"Rin! Just hold on tight!" Yelled Len. "Slide down the pipe! Let go of your feet! I'll catch you when I can!" Rin, still slightly frozen in shock, nodded numbly and grabbed on to the pipe with both hands before letting her legs dangle out. Slowly, she lowered herself into Len's waiting arms, where he plucked her off the pipe and held her to him tightly.

"Don't you dare do that again!" He sighed. Rin put her hands on his chest and pushed him aside a little. "It's alright. I told you, I've fallen off a treehouse before," she reminded him before giving him a smile that melted his heart.

And, as Len watched, she walked away, leaving him desperate for her touch. Again.

* * *

As soon as they arrived at Luka's house, Rin excused herself and made a beeline for the bathroom. How could she have afforded herself such a moment? The sensation of having Len's arms wrapped around her made her feel helpless and all warm and fuzzy inside. _Gosh,_ she thought, _why don't I just tell him downright-_

"Bad Rin!" She suddenly hissed, pinching her own arm as hard as she could. A small stream of blood flowed out where she'd dug her nails in. Hurriedly grabbing a bandage, she patched herself up while scolding her heart for trying to betray her.

A knock on the door suddenly brought her back to the cold reality. "Rin?" Came Luka's gentle voice. "We're having a girls' meeting in our room in ten minutes."

"Sure," replied Rin, wiping up her tears and washing her face to try to remove the redness of her nose. As soon as she stepped out, however, Kaito _zipped_ in and shut the door.

 _No going back now._

Shivering, she made her way up the stairs to the girls' room, where Luka, Miku and Meiko were already waiting. "Gumi's gone to get snacks," explained Miku, patting on the bed beside her. Rin sat down, not wanting to speak. Sure enough, Gumi came in, holding a small basket of foods. The basket, however, dropped out of Gumi's hand as the green-haired girl glared at the blonde, sending a cold shock up Rin's spine.

"Rin. Spill."

And that was all it took for Rin to keel over, sobbing like it was the end of the world.

* * *

"Now, now," said Meiko soothingly as she handed Rin some water. "Are you comfortable telling us what's wrong?"

The girls had spent the past ten minutes convincing Rin to stop crying(and yelling "I'm sorry" uncontrollably). Luka, usually the aloe vera of the group, couldn't do anything. Miku had tried to give her friend some oranges, but Rin hadn't budged. Even Gumi's attempts to apologize were wasted.

Finally, Meiko just held Rin to her tightly, and waited for the blonde girl to stop crying. By some magical miracle, it had worked. Hence the blonde sitting on the bed, sipping water, her eyes bloodshot and teary.

Rin nodded, taking a deep breath and another sip of water. "I… I've done a lot of bad things," she whispered. "Perhaps had they told me and not tried to surprise me, I wouldn't have done what I did. It was what I didn't know that nearly killed me, and I didn't know what was going on until it was too late."

 _Flashback_

 _A faint tune rang through the cold air of Rin's new apartment in Sapporo. The part of her mind that still regretted leaving Tokyo sang along with it, but the new part-the new Rin-swallowed the butterflies and tossed them in the gutter._

 _Len was calling her, for the twenty-second time that day, and Rin wasn't about to pick up. She continued filling out a job application, ignoring the beautiful song that played on. Migikata no chou was sealed away with the past._

 _Eventually the song stopped, only to be replaced by another that Rin instantly sang along with. "Kiseki no robuotto wa negau, "shiritai ano hito ga, inochi no, owari made, watashi ni, tsukerateta, KOKORO," she murmured before stopping herself and remembering what_ that _ringtone was for._

 _It was the emergency, "Len-is-desperate-to-speak-to-me-and-he-is-actually-leaving-a-voicemail" ringtone. Rin sighed. If he'd gone through all the trouble of leaving a voicemail, she might as well pick up._

 _Len's troubled voice rippled through the speaker. "Rin, where are you? We've all been worried sick trying to find you! Please come home! I told you I'd marry you someday, and I am! Haven't you read the marriage papers? They kept it a secret from us all along, Rin. The arranged marriage they had was for the two of us. Please… I love you Rin… Please come home…"_

 _The voicemail ended with Len's broken hearted sobbing, begging for Rin to come home. She couldn't move at that moment, however. Shocked, she picked up the marriage papers that her parents had waved in her face. There, plain as day, written_ KAGAMINE LEN _as her spouse._

 _And at that moment, Rin didn't know whether to cry or to laugh._

 _She didn't know who she was, where she was, why she was, nothing at all. The two sides of her erupted, yelling nasty things all at once. Past-Rin was begging to go home, home to Tokyo and the treehouse and_ Len _, but Now-Rin couldn't let her. They'd all betrayed her…_

 _Picking up her phone again, Rin began to record a voice message to send to Len. "Thank you, Len, for being concerned," she began stiffly, "but I assure you, I am alright as I am. Don't come after me. I've gone through a lot of betrayal and plotting behind my back. Just stay where you are, and let me live my own life. I'll always remember you, Len. Thank you."_

 _She knew that Len would likely find her somehow, and so she thought of one more way to throw him off her track. "Perhaps Crypton will do me some good," she concluded. "Please stay where you are, Len. This is goodbye."_

 _She let the record button go, and in those few seconds as her phone processed the file and sent it to Len, time began to slow down for Rin. The record button was now replaced by a cancel button. She still had a chance to return to the past._

I can't let Len see me again.

 _The bar inched forwards._

He'll hate me for this. For leaving him.

 _Halfway now._

My perfect angel… He fell in love with the devil's advocate, didn't he?

 _Almost two-thirds._

But if I don't go home…

 _Three-quarters now, for sure._

How would Len feel?

 _Almost…_

 _"That's it," declared Rin, jamming her finger down on the cancel button. When she removed it, however, the file had already sent, and there was no way she could delete it. Now-Rin had won, and Past-Rin was gone._

 _"What have I done?" She whispered, sinking to her knees and burying her face in her hands, wishing Len could comfort her like he did back at home in Tokyo._

 _She'd just lost the love of her life… Forever…_

 _End Flashback_

The girls were awestruck, trying to stay standing in the light of Rin's world-shattering revelation. "Rin-chan..." Luka murmured, wrapping her arms around the petite blonde. Soon enough, all four of the girls were hugging Rin tightly, trying to comfort her in any way possible.

"Rin, is that why you told us your last name was Kagamine? Because you're married to Len?" Asked Miku.

Rin nodded. "I didn't see him when I first met you guys, so I thought… I thought it would be safe to tell you my last name was Kagamine. My maiden name is Rin Kagene," she said weakly, a small smile on her lips.

Gumi grabbed a nearby tissue box and offered it to Rin. "I'm sorry I had to make you tell us all that," she blurted sheepishly.

"No, it's alright," assured Rin. "I figured you'd ask me or find out sooner or later."

Miku twisted a lock of Rin's hair around her finger. "Rinny, why'd you come here if you knew Lenners was here?" She asked.

"That's the thing. I didn't," said Rin, confusing the other girls. "I thought he'd left and gone back to Tokyo. I kept track of his Twitter after I went to Sapporo, and in one of his posts, he said he was going home to Tokyo."

Meiko shrugged. "The shota's Twitter," she said eerily, "the land of horrors and disorganization to the max."

Rin caught on. "Oh, the horror," she said, pressing the back of her hand to her forehead.

Gumi snorted (her attempt to laugh with a chunk of carrot in each of her cheeks), causing Meiko to laugh, and ultimately setting off a chain reaction. Even Rin joined in, and for the first time in months, she genuinely smiled.

Things were going to settle down and get better, for once.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry if the pickup truck scene confused y'all. Here's the layout.**

 **Driver's seat: Kaito**

 **Shotgun: Meiko**

 **Backseat: Gackpo, Gumi, Luka and Len**

 **In the trunk(woah, laws broken much): Miku and Rin**

 **I'll upload the next chapter for Rin and Len's birthday. It'll be an interlude, so it'll just be a sort of interactions chapter and have no impact on the story plotline whatsoever. That being said, watching Gackpo lose a game of Super Smash Bros miserably is fun, right?**

 **Merry Christmas, tout le monde!**

 **~MargaritaDaemonelix**


	5. Interlude 1

THE CRYPTON CREW

By MargaritaDaemonelix

Interlude 1: Girls' Night… And Boys' Night Too

If there was one thing that everyone knew about Gumi, it was that she hated for a day to end badly. Rin's meltdown counted as a bad thing, so, pulling out an emergency list of ideas, Gumi clambered up onto her bed and stood up. Thankfully, she was petite enough as to not hit her head against the ceiling fan.

"We are having a girls' night!" She declared, stepping onto the bed she shared with Meiko.

Luka, who was folding some of her clothes, stopped to stare at her. "The who and the what?" Demanded the pink haired woman.

"A girls' night. We gossip about the guys next door, do each other's hair and eat a ton of ice cream," explained Miku from beside Luka, folding some of her own clothes.

Rin smiled. "It's just like when I graduated," she mused, "and we had girls' night in the teachers' suite. I wasn't aware that Tianyi was capable of balancing three cans of pop on her forehead, nor was I aware that any of them could eat _so_ much candy."

Meiko stood up from her spot on the floor, where she had been roosting. "Get out your best pajamas, because we're gonna have some fun tonight," she said, a mischievous light going off in her eyes. The other girls all nodded and set off to work.

After all, no party could come to life without preparation.

* * *

Teto peered up the stairs, where all five girls had disappeared into the moment they'd finished their dinner. "Huh, I didn't need to enforce my curfew on _them_ tonight," she muttered.

Gackpo looked up from the book on eggplant cultivation he was reading. "Why not?" He asked.

Kaito bounded in, an empty ice cream cone in hand. "They're having a girls' night," he whined, "and they took _all_ the ice cream!"

Gackpo sat up straighter in his seat. "No way," he said, eyes wide. "The rocky road?"

Kaito nodded.

"Mint chocolate chip?"

Kaito nodded.

"Even the maple bacon?!"

Len snorted from where he was sitting-the kitchen counter-and lowered his laptop screen. "They're girls, of course they're going to take all the ice cream," he deadpanned. "I would also like to argue that 'even the maple bacon' is a little overexaggerated. Maple bacon ice cream is actually _really_ good."

Kaito _harrumphed_. "That doesn't change the fact that they stole _all_ my ice cream!" He complained.

"Bro, we should get revenge!" Cried Gackpo, throwing his eggplant book to Teto, who managed to catch it in time to _not_ be smacked in the face. "We can party too! We'll eat snack foods that will make us gain ten pounds, and we'll play Super Smash Bros for the WiiU, and MarioKart DS, and everything in between!"

"We'll have our own girls' night!" Yelled Kaito, fistpumping.

Everyone else sweatdropped. "Uh… Kaito… We're guys…?" Prompted Len.

"Right," said Kaito sheepishly. "Boys' night!"

The three men _zipped_ into the kitchen, raided it of any and all snacks (which really wasn't a lot. The girls were thorough in their pillaging), and zipped right back out and up the stairs. Teto stared at the now empty living room.

"Huh, what do you know, I guess I won't have to enforce curfew on the _boys_ , either…"

* * *

"GAH! Luka, that hurt!" Yelled Miku as the older girl tried to braid her long teal tresses.

"Sorry, Miku," apologized Luka. "I'm trying my best."

The girls had all whipped out near identical sleepwear sets-a colourful camisole with black polka dots and a black lace border, paired with bottoms of the same coloration. Miku's set was hot pink, Luka's being pale lavender, Gumi's the same colour as her hair and Meiko's, red.

Rin, being a newcomer, didn't have a sleepwear set like the others. She did have, however, a cerulean blue nightgown with black lace straps and borders, and even black polka dots. A few inquiries from Miku revealed that her nightgown came from the same brand as the other girls' sleepwear sets.

"Gumi-chan, can you pass the maple bacon ice cream, please?" Asked Rin as she waited for Meiko's freshly painted red nails to dry. "Sure," replied Gumi, tossing the package to the blonde girl. "Maple bacon is my favourite," noted Rin, holding the package above Meiko's hands to help the polish harden into a glossy, beautiful shell.

"Why maple bacon, Rin?" Asked Luka. "Even Kaito doesn't eat it often."

"During my graduation trip, we stopped in a little town somewhere and I had it. I've been obsessed with it since," said Rin warmly. "Mei-chan, your nails are done! Do you want me to do flowers on them?"

Meiko looked over her nails, which looked like they'd been done at a salon. "Wow, Rinny. I think these are beautiful as they are," she admitted. "Thank you!"

Rin looked at her own nails, freshly filed, but not coloured. "I don't know what to do with my nails, though," she sighed. "How about I do a flower pattern on them?" Suggested Meiko. "A white French tip, with red sakura patterns, and for the ring fingers, red French tips and white sakura patterns."

The blonde thought for a moment. "I think I'll stick to just yellow nails," she decided. "It's too much trouble for the rest of you to do flowers."

Miku immediately puffed up like a balloon. "Says the newcomer," she scoffed, pushing Meiko aside. "Leave it to me. Let's say… Three minutes, tops?"

She cracked her knuckles as Luka set a stopwatch nervously. "Good luck, Rin," she mouthed. Rin gave her a huge grin in response. "And… GO!" Yelled Gumi, hitting the button on the stopwatch.

Miku pulled the top off a bottle of white nail polish and drew the brush over each of Rin's nails, making a perfect French tip. While she waited for it to dry, she grabbed the brush of the red nail polish from Meiko and made red French tips on the ring fingertips.

"Fan!" She demanded, holding out her hand. Meiko dropped a small electric fan (the handheld type) in the teal-haired girl's hand. Waving the fan over Rin's nails, Miku dabbed a delicate fingertip at her thumb. "Ready to paint," she muttered before pulling a bobby pin out of her hair and using to paint tiny, delicate flowers with five petals on the nails painted white.

"One minute left~" Sang Gumi. Miku grit her teeth as she painted white flowers for Rin's ring fingers. "CLEAR!" She yelled, swinging her arm around looking for the bottle. Meiko gave her the brush of one, watching as Miku swept a layer of topcoat over each of Rin's nails. Giving them one last round of the fan, she grinned and smacked Luka, who turned the stopwatch off. "Well?" Demanded Miku, a little red from the pressure.

"You made it… A second over," admitted Luka. "OH COME ON!" Yelled Miku, smacking her thigh. Rin, who everyone (including the author) had forgotten, smiled weakly. "Hey, it's okay, Miku! If you can't achieve it this time, it'll spur you to do better next time," she said.

Miku huffed a little, but nonetheless smiled. "You always make it sound better," she told Rin, ruffling the blonde girl's hair. "Yeah, but you're the one who made it happen, and seriously, thank you. These are beautiful."

The girls all gathered round even tighter to admire the lovely nails that Miku had created in (near) record time. "Where'd you get the idea for these, Mei-chan?" Asked Gumi. Meiko shrugged. "Beats me. It just sort of…" She waved inexpressively. "Appeared."

The other girls sweatdropped, but continued on as if nothing had happened.

After all, it was _much_ better than having to deal with an angry Meiko.

* * *

"Did Len move on?" Asked Rin as the other girls lay on their stomachs, watching Gumi fiddle with the TV.

"No," laughed Luka. "Heck, he pretty much turned down everyone that so much as _looked_ at him. Poor Yu was shattered."

Rin looked confused. "Yu? Who? And also, why?" She asked.

Gumi spoke up from by the television. "Her name is Yukari, but we call her Yu for short. She's Gackpo-kun's sister. She, ah, asked Lenners if he could help her carry a few books. He practically _snarled_ at her."

The girls all giggled for a moment, thinking of Len and the idea of him(cough shota cough) snarling at anyone. "I seriously can't see that happening," was Rin's verdict.

Something fizzed by the TV, as Gumi connected a few final wires. "AHA!" She declared, standing up. "We have contact!" Sure enough, the display on the tiny screen wasn't any channel, but rather the startup screen of what appeared to be a round of Super Smash Bros. for the WiiU.

And not just _any_ round of SSB. The Crypton Boys' round of SSB.

"So… I think Kaito's playing Bowser," said Miku, glaring at the screen. Rin, who was enjoying her ice cream, didn't even bother to look up. "Len's playing Pikachu. He always does."

The girls glanced at her, but turned their focus back to the screen within a heartbeat. "That leaves Gackpo as… Princess Peach," finished Luka lamely. Somehow, the girls began snickering at the sheer thought of the self-declared samurai playing as Princess Peach. It didn't make any sense, but Gackpo was unpredictable.

They watched in some amusement as Pikachu and Bowser proceeded to beat the living rainbows out of Peach(and listened as Gackpo screamed in fury) and turn on each other in an epic one-on-one battle. Soon, Pikachu was the only one left standing. "DAMMIT!" Came Kaito's shriek of defeated pride, while Len snickered and Gackpo sulked in a corner.

"Rin-chan, is Len-kun always like that?" Asked Miku.

Rin tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

Luka gave an "ah" of understanding as Miku struggled to find words to explain what she meant. "I think she means, has Len always been so good at video games?" She clarified.

Rin nodded. "No one, and I do mean _no one_ , has beat him in any video game he plays," she said solemnly. "He beats me in every video game... That being said, there's not much to beat. He beat my dad at Mario Kart... He beat _his_ dad at Mario Kart..."

The conversation somehow shifted over to family and friends. "Kaito's my cousin," said Luka, picking at a bag of chips. "Although he is on my dad's side, and my mom never talks about him."

Miku giggled. "He is a baka, isn't he," she said, fluttering her eyelashes at Meiko, who blushed.

"You'd know, you've dated him before…" Replied the brunette, quite embarrassed.

Rin looked surprised at this new development. "She has?!"

The other girls snorted. "Miku-chan's little… Ah… _Relationship_ with Kaito was rather interesting," recalled Gumi. "He nearly got arrested for being a pedobear."

"Twice," added Miku, smothering a giggle. Rin sighed. She could see that Meiko obviously had a thing or two for the blue-haired young man, and she could also see the brunette beating up Miku for him. Considering the fact that Miku was a really good friend, she _really_ didn't want that to happen.

"How are things between you and Gackpo, Gu-chan?" Asked Miku. "Is Teto still trying to set him up with Luka?"

Luka herself turned green and mimed vomiting.

Gumi poked her index fingers together, a faint pink tinge appearing on her cheeks. "If you must know, miss Teto has approached me about this," she murmured. "She said something like… "I have realized that my daughter's interests lie elsewhere and I respect that"? I dunno." She shrugged.

Whatever green there was in Luka's face was completely neutralized as she turned the colour of a ripe tomato. "MOTHER!" She groaned, sinking her face into her pillow.

Teto's playful, teasing voice came wafting up the stairs. " _What?"_

The girls laughed as Luka groaned even more and attempted to make herself as tiny and inconspicuous as possible. "It's alright, Lu-chan, we won't tease you anymore about it," said Miku, patting Luka's back soothingly.

"Mmrph," replied the pile of clothes and blankets.  
"My mother is like that too," commented Meiko. "She teases me to no end about the guys I like, the celebrities I follow, the sake I drink. It's always like that."

"My dad did that," recalled Miku. "My mom died when I was really little, so I grew up with my dad and my grandparents." She paused for a moment. "Come to think of it, Grandma teased me about it a lot too. Especially that one summer when I dated Bruno…"

Rin nodded. "My parents always teased me about Len," she added quietly, earning a few surprised looks from her friends. "How about you, Gu-chan?"

The room fell silent. Even the boys next door didn't dare to speak. "I'm sorry, I've said something completely horrid, haven't I?" Panicked Rin.

"No, it's alright, Rin-chan, I'll explain," said Gumi, drawing her knees to her chest. "My parents were murdered when I was young."

The colour drained from Rin's face. "Oh my goodness, Gu-chan," she whispered, wrapping her arms around the green-haired girl.

"I lived in a few foster homes until I ran away when I was fifteen," continued Gumi. "A mechanic found me on the street and brought me in. A few years afterwards, he died of lung cancer. I didn't have anywhere to go, so I ran."

"We found her on the sidewalk, coughing up blood," added Luka quietly as Rin's eye widened. "My mother immediately drove her to the hospital. After they made sure she was stable, we took her home and pretty much sat her down in this room and told her, "look here, this is your new home."" She paused for a moment. "I'm so glad she didn't argue."

The girls laughed. Gumi's sullen eyes, normally so bright, seemed to shimmer with tears. "Sometimes, when we go on missions, I'm kinda glad my parents aren't here," she said, her voice a little strained. "They wouldn't have approved of the kind of life I live."

Meiko shook her head. "Gumi-chan, I'm sure they would have been proud of you no matter what you do," she said softly. The others nodded in agreement.

Rin looked on the verge of tears herself. "Gu-chan, I'm so sorry," she managed, tightening her hug. Gumi raised her hands to hold Rin's hands, a small smile on her face.

"It's alright. I'm actually kinda glad I got to tell you that."

She placed a small red flower in Rin's hair. "Besides, you told us about yourself. It's only fair that we explain ourselves too, right?"

Rin found herself being poked in the nose by the four other girls. " _Right~?"_

The room exploded with laughter and giggles.

Somewhere downstairs, Teto groaned, turning off the TV and reaching for her laptop. "Where are my headphones?"

* * *

 **A/N: First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAH BABIES RINNY AND LENNERS! ERMEGERSH! Yeah. I'm hyped right now because Christmas parties and DestinyFate and** _ **whoops, wrong fandom**_ **.**

 **To make a long story very short, the next chapter of** _ **The Crypton Crew**_ **is currently in the works, but has not yet been completed. For now, be prepared for an update around or after New Year's. If you liked this chapter, do not worry: there is another Interlude chapter to come. Soon… Very soon...**

 **Again, happy birthday, Rin and Len!**

 **-MargaritaDaemonelix**


	6. Chapter 5

THE CRYPTON CREW

By MargaritaDaemonelix

Chapter 5: Morning, Kids

 _The sun wasn't even up yet when Rin woke up, somehow. It was surprising; she could sleep through an earthquake._

 _Come to think of it, she_ had _slept through an earthquake._

" _Hey," whispered a voice by her ear. Startled, she turned around to see the source of the noise that had shaken her from her precious sleep. Laying next to her, his hands tangled in hers, was Len._

" _Hey," she replied, a small smile on her face as she breathed in, happy to just be next to him, to be_ with _him. She pulled her hands out and tucked them behind his neck, not wanting to let him go, and pulled herself to him, pressing her lips to his._

" _Don't ever leave me again, Rin," whispered Len against her lips, their foreheads still pressed together gently._

 _Rin nodded, closing her eyes and bathing in his warmth. "I won't."_

 _Smiling, Len wrapped his arms around her, kissing her so warmly that she thought that she would burst from the love that he outright_ radiated _..._

"WAKE UP! WAKE UP ROOSTER! WE'RE ALL READY FOR YOUR COCKLE-DOODLE-DOO!"

"YAAAAH!"

All four of Rin's limbs shot into the air as Teto paraded into the girls' room, waving her baguette again. "Mornin', kids!" She trilled, still enthusiastically waving her baguette.

On the other side of the room, Luka groaned as she sat up in the twin bed she shared with Miku. "Really, Mom?" She paused to rub the sleep out of her eyes. "I need my beauty sleep…"

Rin lay spread-eagle in the middle of the floor, on the small mattress she occupied alone. "Oh my goodness, thank Kami-sama it was only a dream," she gasped, placing a hand over her heart. She could feel it pumping through the thin cloth of her nightgown.

… Nightgown? Where were her orange-patterned pajamas?

 _Ah yes_ , thought Rin as she crawled off the mattress, _we had our girls' night last night, didn't we_. "Morning, Teto," she yawned as she pulled a set of fresh clothes out of her suitcase. _Damn my aching… Everything… Is it eight thirty already?_

… _That dream._

 _Is that really what I want?_

Teto smirked as she watched the girls stumble over their own feet, trying to find adequate clothes to wear. "I'll leave you girls to get dressed. I have three lazy young men to wake up."

The words didn't really click in Rin's mind, but she went with them anyways as Teto flounced out of the room, her baguette trailing behind her like a lightsaber. The thought of Teto waking the boys up in the same loud way brought a smug _ha_ to Rin's mind.

Somewhere in the distance, Teto sang her wake up song as Kaito and Gackpo _and_ Len screamed. "WAKE UP, YOU LAZY SLOWPOKES!"

The girls glanced at each other before breaking into a fit of the giggles. "My mother," said Luka, which seemed to sum things up. They hurriedly pulled on their clothes and ran down the stairs.

The first thing that came to Rin's mind when she saw the kitchen was _Goodness, he's a hot mess_. Len had _magically_ put his hair up in a ponytail to compensate for his rather sloppy and sleepy appearance. "Morning, Rin," he said, yawning into a mug of coffee.

"Good morning, Len," she managed to reply stiffly, grabbing a bread knife and a loaf of fresh bread, along with the orange marmalade. "How was Super Smash-agh, never mind."

Len watched with considerable amusement as Rin proceeded to slice herself a piece of broken bread and spread a layer of marmalade over her own hand. "Aw, c'mon Rinny, you aren't that clumsy, are you?" He teased.

Rin froze as she realized that she'd just made quite a mess. "Well, _sorry_ for being sleepy at eight-thirty in the morning," she quipped back, picking up her breakfast and taking a bite. _Ah, my glorious marmalade…_

Miku ran in from outside, waving a piece of mail. "Delivery from the police station!"

The entire Crypton Crew ran in. "Police delivery?!" Yelped Kaito excitedly, grabbing the mail from Miku. Using the ice cream scooper he held, he tore the top of the envelope off.

Sure enough, inside sat a police-authorized letter. "Can I read it?" Begged Gackpo, trying to wrestle the letter out of Kaito's hands. "NO!" Came the rather indignant reply.

The two of them began wrestling for the letter like a pair of five year olds. Luka closed her eyes and grit her teeth in annoyance, her face beginning to turn red. "YOU TWO! STOP IT! RIGHT _NOW_!"

They wisely shut up and handed her the letter.

"Memo from head officer CUL," read Luka. "To the Crypton Crew: there has been a case of theft in the city. Because of your team's high efficiency, we would like to allocate this case to you. We will be assigning an officer to assist you in filling out the necessary papers."

Teto clapped her han. "Hurry up, m'dears," she said, her eyes sparkling with excitement, "you've got a case to get to."

* * *

When Head Officer CUL had assigned them an officer to help them, she probably really meant _an officer to oversee everything and order the team around_. Officer Prima, as they learned, was extremely strict, and refused to listen to anything and everything the Crypton Crew said. This, of course, caused some…

 _Discrepancies._

Kaito, being Kaito, had already gotten into two arguments with Prima, and Meiko, being Meiko, had had to be restrained from throttling the black-haired woman twice. Miku's face was completely red after Prima insulted her interest in nail polishes, and Gumi was suspiciously fingering the trigger of a tiny semi-automatic she'd hidden in her sleeve.

To say that it was getting old would be an understatement.

Even Rin was starting to lose her patience.

Len was _trying_ to reason with the officer as the others examined the crime scene. "The people who live here got married a few years back," explained Luka. "Don't have kids. Albert and Annalise. We call them Big Al and Sweet Ann. No idea why someone would want to raid their house-they're the nicest people ever."

Meiko clicked her teeth. "The thief-or thieves-are smart. They hijacked the security camera," she offered, reading from a police report she'd received from Prima. "So we can't tell where they entered, or where they exited."

Kaito pushed a door open, causing the entire panel of oak to fall off the hinges and crash to the ground. "When did this happen?"

"At midnight, apparently," said Len, returning with a sour expression. "Any longer with that woman and I would have gotten an aneurism. Anyways, _Officer_ Prima says the break-in happened at around midnight."

"And then they killed the security system, and they stole everything valuable," finished Miku. Luka nodded in response.

"Where are Albert and Annalise?" Asked Rin, plucking the report from Meiko to read herself.

Gackpo pointed towards a segment of police tape where a young woman with tanned skin and ash blonde hair stood, wrapped in a pink shawl, next to a tall man with black hair that seemed to be already greying. "La-bas."

Gumi punched him in the arm quite hard before grabbing Rin and Luka and making a dash for the couple. The purple-haired man crumpled to the ground, gripping his arm in pain.

"Hey," she offered amicably, extending a hand out to them. "We're part of the Crypton Crew. We're here to help figure out who stole your stuff and where it is."

The woman, who must have been Ann, grabbed Gumi's hand with both of hers and began to shake it uncontrollably. "Oh my goodness, I can't even begin to express- thank you," she managed, bowing her head slightly.

Al chuckled a little, but there was a clear hesitance in his voice. "You'll have to excuse my Ann. She's a little hyped about the case at hand."

Luka pulled out a notepad and a pencil. "If you don't mind me asking, where were you guys last night?" She asked.

Ann turned a little red. "Um, we were at Bruno and Clara's place from six until about midnight. They got engaged recently," she admitted, "and we were throwing them a party with a few of our other friends."

"List?"

"Maika was there," pondered Ann. "She mixed me a few _interesting_ things that I did not need in my system. I think Ona was there too-Maika never goes anywhere without her sister."

"Miriam was passed out on the couch when we left," supplied Big Al.

Ann smacked her palm into her forehead before continuing. "When we got home, the door was open, and the windows were smashed. I thought I was hallucinating at first, but then Al went in and said "they really stole everything, Ann." And then we started panicking."

Rin frowned, but nodded. "Thank you."

She turned aside, still frowning. "Something doesn't add up," she mumbled to herself.

Luka looked at her like she was crazy. "Explain."

Rin brought her face up to look the pink-haired woman in the face. "Ann said they got back at about midnight," she said, her voice low, "but Prima says the robbing happened then as well."

Luka _oohed_ and nodded in understanding. "I'll have Kaito confirm whether Al and Ann actually got home at midnight or not. I'm fairly certain Bruno and Clara will have some remembrance of this. Assuming they weren't too drunk."

As she turned around and jogged off to find her blue-haired cousin, Rin and Gumi began wandering around the house itself. Gumi was snapping pictures with her phone(which she'd built herself out of parts from different phones) and looking at the different places that had been damaged. "Rin, what does it say on the police report about the author?" She asked as they wandered through the kitchen, pulling her magenta goggles down and looking at a broken cabinet with a flashlight intensely.

Rin pulled up the report. "It was written by none other than our favourite police officer," she said sarcastically after she found the section she'd been looking for.

Gumi made a face. "Prima? That bi-"

Rin cleared her throat. "Gumi, remember, the author wants to keep this fanfic as clean as possible! PG-13, please!"

The green-haired girl rolled her eyes, but ended _that_ word off. "That _witch_? She doesn't seem capable of pulling off this big of a heist within an hour," she muttered.

Rin raised an eyebrow skeptically. "You think _Prima_ did it?" She said meticulously.

Gumi nodded. "It makes sense. The stupid report said the door was forced open, and the thief smashed the windows afterwards to get out. It would have been much more sensible to just break in through the windows and open the door to get out."

She stood up straighter. "Besides, Prima doesn't look like that." Her green eyes burned with unnatural fire. Rin wondered if it had been the _robbery_ that had ignited that fire, or the sheer audacity of a _police officer_ committing a crime like this.

Miku suddenly came running in. "Kaito called Bruno and Clara," she said, her bottom lip quivering a little in fear. "You were right, Rin. Prima lied to us."

The blonde brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face. "Let's go see what miss Prima has to say about this," she said firmly, the fire in her own blue eyes mirroring Gumi's.

The three girls stomped over to Prima, who was standing haughtily at the head of the investigation, in her police tent. "Miss Prima-" Began Miku, but Prima cut her off.

"That's _Officer_ Prima to you, sassy," snapped the black-haired woman. Her eyes flickered off to the side. Rin realized with a start that she was wearing golden circles lenses. She strained her eyes to try and identify what colour the woman's real eyes were.

"Um, Officer Prima, we'd like to know, how did you figure out the robbery happened at midnight?" Asked Luka, seeing Rin's distress and trying to stall enough time for the blonde.

"Easy. The security system outside the door," drawled Prima lazily, picking at her finely filed nails.

Gackpo ran up, holding the mess of the security camera. "Doesn't look like you checked it to me," he countered.

Kaito suddenly appeared with Meiko by his side, her arms crossed over her chest. "We just called Bruno, Clara, Maika _and_ Miriam to confirm things," she said almost smugly. "Big Al and Sweet Ann were home _before_ midnight. They called Ona at eleven fifty to tell her that they were home."

The couple mentioned were walking over as well. Ann had wrapped the shawl around herself tightly and her arms around herself even tighter. "You're not Prima," she spat, though her voice was trembling. "Prima is a wonderful person. Prima doesn't lie. Prima is my childhood friend who I've been through thick and thin with. You are not Prima."

The woman that Ann had now identified as _not Prima_ cackled with wild laughter. "Well then," she said, reaching up to pluck the golden disks out of her eyes, "I guess I'd best be on my way before you decide to call the police."

The only glimpse of the woman's real eyes that Rin got before she tossed the smoke bomb down was that she had one red eye and one blue.

Somewhere in the smoke, someone was struggling. "GET OFF ME, YOU LITTLE-" Screeched _not Prima_ as Len tumbled out of the smoke, coughing madly. Rin closed her eyes in her own attempt to clear the strange chemical from her lungs.

 _What is this?_ She questioned herself, trying to pull up the names of chemicals from the back of her mind. _It smells like… Moth balls? Urinal cakes?_

 _Paradichlorobenzene._

Her vision began to swim before fading to black.

* * *

"Rinny!"

Just like that morning, Rin's eyes snapped open. "What-" She croaked, reaching up.

Blue eyes met teal eyes. "She's alive!" Yelled Miku.

Rin suddenly found herself being assaulted with a barrage of hugs. "Oh my goodness, Rinny," breathed Gumi in relief, "you had us worried there."

"No time," said Rin, standing up and realizing that she was _standing in the middle of the living room_ of Teto's house. "That smoke bomb was filled with dangerous chemicals. Paradichlorobenzene. It's a carcinogen. And it's-it's-"

Meiko put her finger to her lips and _shushed_ at Rin. "It's alright," she chuckled. "Lenners tore off a piece of the weird lady's coat as she went by. Turns out it was Prima's. The police dogs tracked her scent down to a warehouse on Disappearance Street. She was there, with all the stolen stuff."

"I still don't get what happened with the contacts," exclaimed Gackpo. "Why was she wearing them, and why did she take them out?"

Len snorted. He'd been sitting on the couch for some time, and hadn't moved. Rin hadn't even noticed him. "Because contacts are freaking _uncomfortable_. Duh."

Rin nodded. "Her actual eyes were really weird. One was red, and the other was blue."

The rest of the team - Teto included, from her perch on the kitchen counter - froze. "Black hair, one red eye, one blue eye?" Whispered Kaito. "Oh, shoot."

"Why? Is it an issue?" Asked Rin hesitantly, already not liking the sound of the situation.

Teto turned completely red and stormed up the stairs.

Luka sighed. "That's Ruko Yokune you're talking about. She's apparently a hermaphrodite, but none of us are really sure. She's part of the UTAU - the Use of Anti-Trojan Union."

"They were a bunch of anti-hackers working for the government at first," explained Gumi, "but after one of their better agents got accused of hacking, the entire team turned against him, and when he got arrested, his girlfriend was forced to run."

"They kept the group name, but now they're pretty much a criminal organization," ended Luka quietly.

The group was silent for a while. The faint sound of Teto's shuffling upstairs echoed in the stairway. "Well," said Meiko, standing up, "since we have nothing better to do, we might as well have dinner."

As the others began to move around her, however, Rin stood alone in the living room, staring at the ground.

 _What kind of trouble have we gotten ourselves into?_

* * *

 **A/N: OHMYGOSH HI SORRY ABOUT THE HIATUS**

 **I have a lot of author's notes for this chapter, so please visit my Tumblr to find them. I really don't want like 300 words of author's notes at the bottom of this chappie!**


	7. Interlude 2

THE CRYPTON CREW

By MargaritaDaemonelix

Interlude 2: Mother Knows Best

It didn't seem too odd to any of them that in the middle of dinner(some toasted brioche with butter and cream cheese) Teto came barrelling down the stairs, waving a handful of just-printed sheets and an empty picnic basket. "I'VE GOT IT!"

Before any of them knew what was happening, all of them were putting their shoes on, and Teto had ushered them all outside. Kaito was left holding the sheets of paper and the picnic basket, miraculously filled with (what else?) French bread of all sorts and a variety of spreads for the bread.

"Wha-?"

Meiko sighed and took the papers from him. "There's an address on this," she noticed. "They appear to be tickets for all of us to go to some event."

Len tossed the car keys to Gackpo, who caught them and twirled them around on one finger. "Get in the truck, ladies and snails," he said, "we're going… Wherever it is Teto is sending us."

Half the team faceplanted into the porch.

* * *

"SLOW DOWN YOU MADMAN YOU'RE GOING TO KILL US ALL!"

"NO MEI-CHAN DON'T KILL HIM WE NEED HIM _ALIVE_ TO HACK DATABASES AND GPS SATELLITES AND EVERYTHING ELSE!"

"GIMME THE WHEEL!"

" **AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"**

 _Never mind, then. Please standby for technical difficulties while the author attempts to stop Kaito from driving, and get Meiko to stop trying to wrestle the wheel from him._

*BEEP*

TAKE 2

"Luka-chan, where do I turn?" Asked Meiko politely as she sat calmly in the driver's seat, both hands on the wheel as she stepped delicately on the gas pedal, making sure the speed stayed even at 65 kilometres per hour.

"Turn now, Mei-chan," chirped Luka, pointing out the window from her spot in shotgun as Meiko smoothly turned right into a large parking lot. Thankfully, they were able to find a parking spot easily, despite the overall crowded appearance of the area.

Miku, Rin and Gumi stepped out of the back of the truck, pulling down their imaginary sunglasses and looking at the building in front of them. "Cosmic Battler?" Said Gumi inquisitively. "Really, Teto, you sent us to a LaserQuest place?"

Luka slammed the shotgun door shut. "Mom said she used to love LaserQuest when she was younger," she provided. "C'mon, how hard can it be?"

"Um, hi? Can you at least release Kaito first? He looks like a dying worm."

The five girls turned to the trunk, where they'd relocated the boys to. Len was sitting, unamused, beside the writhing Kaito, while Gackpo had his hand raised up in the air from his previous question.

Gumi rolled her eyes. "Um, hi? I'm the _firearms_ expert, _you're_ the blades expert?" She offered. Gackpo made an _oh_ of understanding and pulled a tiny stiletto out of his sleeve(where'd he get that from?!) and began to saw the duct tape off the blue haired man, despite his obvious distress. Len rolled his eyes and removed his gag.

Kaito took in a deep breath and let out a scream that could have instantly killed anyone that _wasn't_ part of the Crypton Crew and hence, not accustomed to such noises.

* * *

Somewhere in Tokyo, a certain red-haired cross-dressing male clapped his hands over his ears. "WHAT THE HECK?!"

* * *

Back in Crypton, Kaito _finally_ gulped for breath as his vocal cords and lungs gave way to the incredibly high screech. Meiko smacked him in the face. "You didn't have to do that!"

"Yes I did!" Argued the blue-haired man, sitting up and crossing his arms over his chest. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have gotten the message that I was pissed."

Rin suddenly found herself, along with Luka, smacking her forehead against the truck's glossy surface.

Len groaned and smacked his palm against his forehead. "Let's just go and be done with it!"

"Welcome to Cosmic Battler!" Said a young woman cheerfully as the team strode in, her rainbow-dyed auburn hair flying over her face. "I'm Galaco. How may I help you?"

Luka's eyes lit up. "Galaco!" She exclaimed, grabbing her hands and beginning to jump up and down excitedly.

"Oh my goodness, Luka," said Galaco, bouncing along with Luka. "Welcome, welcome, welcome! Did your mom get my email?"

Luka rolled her eyes. "C'mon. It's my mom. Of course she did."

Galaco giggled. "Well, I'll take your tickets. Follow me- here at _my_ Cosmic Battler, I make sure each and every single one of you is ready to go. You'll have to be individually fitted with your gear, of course," she added.

Meiko smiled. "Thank you," she chirped, back to her _less than normal_ flouncy self. "Say, do you have laser pistols?"

"Do we ever."

The entire group turned around to find a young woman with ash blonde hair that was dyed a variety of colours at the tips. Her golden eyes were just a _little_ unsettling, and the hand axe(was that _blood?!_ )she was flipping around and around wasn't helping things. "We carry more laser weaponry than any other LaserQuest in the world. Name's Mayu."

She extended a hand to the team. No one shook it.

Galaco chuckled. "Oh, loosen up, would you? Mayu's not that scary."

Still no one moved.

Mayu pouted. "Alrighty, then. Let's get going."

She led the team into a fitting room of some sort. It was mostly dark, but she hit a switch, causing panels of iridescent weapons to flip up out of the walls.

Gumi's jaw dropped. "WOAH," she breathed, "Is this what I think it is?"

She glanced at Mayu, who nodded. Dashing forwards, the green-haired girl picked up the closest gun. "Is this a remodeled Beretta 92?!"

Mayu smirked. "It seems I'm not the only weapons expert in town," she said, her golden eyes glimmering with excitement. "Well done. Take your pick."

The two firearm enthusiasts ran around, assisting everyone else with finding something to use. Meiko had some trouble picking a weapon after seeing everything-like Gackpo, she was more familiar with blades. In the end, Mayu managed to find her a remodeled Luger, and for the purple-haired man, a special katana built for LaserQuest-type things.

The team somehow reached the unanimous agreement that Mayu had made it herself.

Rin was also having a hard time choosing her weapon. Gumi peered over her shoulder as she examined the rows of rifles and pistols, silently enjoying the younger girl's distress as she scrutinized each weapon. "How about this."

The blonde girl turned around to see Gumi holding out a pair of smaller revolvers, small enough to pass off as a dollar-store water gun. "Where'd you get those?" She asked, taking them in her own hands. They couldn't have been mass-produced; these had the smoothness only a pair of artisan hands could achieve.

"I made them myself."

Rin turned to see Mayu walking up, the ghost of a smile glowing on her face. "I knew it wasn't factory made," murmured Gumi.

"I made those when I was in high school," recalled Mayu wistfully. "Or at least when I was _supposed_ to be in high school. I took apart a handful of Colt revolvers and reassembled them for my younger hands. Those are my _babies_."

Turning them over in her hands, Rin felt her petite hands slip into the trigger comfortably. "I'll use one of these, then," she decided.

Mayu grinned. "Great!"

Within seconds, Rin found herself clothed in a vest all too familiar to her, splattered with glow-in-the-dark paint. She found a connector cord on the side of the vest and plugged them into Mayu's tiny revolver, watching as the black weapon lit up with golden LEDs implanted on each side.

"Ready?"

Len's voice floated over to her, followed by the click of some sort of a gun. "Are you?" She retorted, a smirk already lining her face.

"Loser pays for snacks after this?"

The smirk grew. "Deal."

 _This is war._

* * *

"Behind you, Rin-chan!" Yelled Gumi, sending another three shots at Miku from her Beretta, the teal-haired girl yelping as one laser streak hit her vest and temporarily disabled her ability to shoot as Rin took down Luka, who was trying to sneak up on them from another angle.

"Dammit, I need to be more careful," seethed the blonde girl as they hid behind a wall. "Len and I are at _war_. I really don't want to have to pay for his snacking." To prove her point, she turned the barrel around menacingly.

Gumi gazed into a mirror around the corner. "Well, if it helps, I'm on your side," she pointed out, "and I've probably handled more weapons than I have eaten carrots."

"Yeah, but Len's got Gackpo on his side, and you seem to forget that the baka you _so obviously like_ was in military training, once upon a time," countered Rin. Gumi's face turned almost as green as her hair, but Rin's assuring smile told her that it was only a jest.

"Shh, Kaito, there's someone there."

"But Mei-chan~"

Gumi turned around to look Rin in the eye. "Alright, new plan," she said, eyes sparkling. "We're taking down Kai-kun and Mei-chan first. Use the mirror."

Careful to not make a single sound, the two girls shifted so the red and blue vests of Kaito and Meiko were clearly visible in the mirror. "Take aim…" Whispered Rin, "and go!"

Suddenly, she found herself unable to shoot as her gun's LEDs lit for a moment. "What?"

Thankfully, Gumi was already shooting away. "It's Mei-chan! She must have shot you when Kai-kun was rambling," she managed as Rin ducked up and down, trying to reactivate her revolver while avoiding the laser missiles that were still arriving in an endless barrage.

"I've been hit! Oh, may the maker bless my soul…"

"SHUT UP YOU BAKA! ARGH! RUN!"

"How do I run?! I'm _dead!_ "

"NO YOU ARE NOT-"

Rin managed to peg Meiko in the back with a perfectly aimed shot just before she disappeared around the corner. "Great comeback, Rinny," said Gumi, examining the surrounding area. "We're not safe. This place echoes a lot."

As if on cue, the sound of laser gun echoed through the room, followed by Gackpo's almost feral growl. "There's someone here."

"What do we do?" Whispered Rin, pressing her back to the part of the wall that was deemed temporarily safe. Gumi put a finger over her lips before pointing upwards, towards the ceiling.

Confused, Rin's gaze followed her finger before realizing what it meant. The ceiling was covered in a layer of pipes that didn't look like they would hold. However, Mayu(Galaco didn't seem like the type to renovate like a madwoman) had added steel reinforcements, and had probably done so for the petite femmes.

Like Gumi and Rin, who were crawling in the space _between_ the pipes and the ceiling, avoiding both Gackpo and Len deliberately, and not moving more than a few centimetres at a time. Crawling side by side, they managed to get to the opposite side of the room from where Gackpo and Len were. Mouthing the word "down" and pointing towards the ground, Gumi dropped out of the sky like a green-haired meteorite and began firing at Gackpo.

Rin simply waited. After all, the perfect moment hadn't come yet, and Gumi needed backup…

* * *

When Gackpo suddenly flinched and the lights on his Walther suddenly lit up, Len knew Rin had caught up to them. "Dammit, Rin!" He hissed under his breath, only to see Gumi there, her trademark magenta goggles wrapped tightly around her eyes.

"You're going down."

In response, Len raised the laser katana that he'd gotten from Gackpo. Sure, it wasn't anything more than the handle of a real katana, but Mayu had embedded a ranged laser pointer in the end so there was no need for a real blade. That would only cause complications.

Instead, he rolled out of the way and "stabbed" Gumi in the stomach, causing the lights on her Beretta to flicker. "Shoot," muttered the green-haired girl, rolling aside as Gackpo stood up, the moment of panic from his injury over, wielding the Walther that Len had traded him.

The two turned their attention to Gumi, who had pretty much been backed up against a wall. Gackpo attempted to shoot her, but found himself unable to shoot yet _another_ time. The lights on the Walther turned yellow, a sign that a player wearing yellow had gotten the point.

 _Aside from me, who's wearing yellow?_ Pondered Len as he tightened his grip on the katana, preparing to strike Gumi when she rose again. The laser pointer installed in the end, however, did not focus on her vest. Len realized with a start that he'd been hit too.

Looking up, he saw a mirror, right above Gumi. And in that mirror, her revolver still pointed at him, was Rin, looking furious.

"Finally," he complained, turning the katana on her instead as the lights on his weapon flickered back to their original colour. "Dare to face me?"

Rin smirked, even as the trademark white clips fell out of her hair and dropped to cover her left eye. "Is that a challenge?"

She sent a laser shot at him, which he dodged easily and went in for a stab. Rolling, she avoided his advance and pushed the trigger yet again. While it did connect with his vest, Len took no notice of this, and jumped, landing on Rin, startling the both of them and sending them tumbling to the floor in a heap of blonde hair and laser weapons.

Imagine that. In essence, Len had pinned Rin to the ground, and was pretty much straddling her waist. It wasn't at all uncomfortable; in fact, the awkward position felt rather nostalgic to Len, like he and Rin were in the treehouse all over again, feeding each other salted watermelon on a too-hot summer afternoon, except for once, _he_ was on top.

"So, Len," she teased, "are you going to stab me or not?"

He smirked. "Are you admitting defeat, Rin?"

Raising his weapon well above his head, he brought it down to strike what easily could have been the "final blow", had this been a real weapon.

"Game's over, guys…. Oh. Am I… Interrupting something?"

Both of them turned around to face Miku, who was standing in the doorway of the room, staring awkwardly at their strange position. "Game's over," she repeated, a silly smirk on her face as she put the events of their girls' night and the events unfolding before her eyes together.

"Oh hon hon hon~Is Rin-chan having cuddle time with Len-kun~?"

"MIKU!" Yelled both blonds, even as they scrambled to their feet and brushed themselves off. Not daring to even glance at each other, they followed Miku out of the maze and into the lobby area outside, where everyone else was waiting.

"Well?" Asked Rin as cheerfully as she didn't feel. "How'd we do?"

Galaco looked like she was fighting back a laugh. "Well, you and Len tied."

Rin didn't even get to glare at Len before Galaco delivered the world-shattering news.

"You tied for second last."

"WHAT?!" Shrieked the duo at the same time, their eyes bulging out as they stared in disbelief at Galaco, who merely chuckled.

"Kaito came in last place, only because he got hit more times than he fired."

"You two _lovebirds_ landed a ton of good hit," explained Luka, grinning in an almost predatory way, "but because you kept aiming for _each other_ , you got hit almost as many times. Gumi-chan came first because she only got hit once. Mei-chan came second, the purple idiot came third, Miku-chan and I came fourth, you two tied for fifth, and Kaito… Pretty much didn't rank."

The team turned as Kaito sobbed into the table he was sitting at, an ice cream sundae at his side while Meiko _attempted_ to pat his back in consolation. "What the heck," she mouthed silently, pointing at his shaking figure.

Luka smacked her forehead. "I'm not dealing with him," she announced, walking away with one hand in the air. Miku followed after her after shrugging and flipping her twintails over her shoulder. Gumi followed _her,_ probably to look at Mayu's weapon stash again.

They'd arrived with the guys in the back trunk, looking after a writhing Kaito, and they _left_ with the guys in the back trunk, _still_ looking after a writhing Kaito.

* * *

 _Meanwhile_

Teto sighed as the truck reappeared on the driveway, her normally-vibrant eyes tired and dull. "I'm sorry, sweet, but I'll have to tell you next time," she whispered, holding a baguette-shaped pillow to her chest as she smiled sadly at the picture frame nestled in her closet. "Goodbye."

The brilliant eyes that mirrored her own in the image seemed to be just as sad as hers.

* * *

 **A/N: I think my new system of updating every Monday is serving well-I get plenty of time to write chapters, so I don't have to cram on Monday at 10:30. Again, I have a lot of author's notes, so please visit my Tumblr( .com) for the remainder.**

 **Things are about to escalate in the next chapter. Prepare your souls.**


	8. Chapter 6

THE CRYPTON CREW

By MargaritaDaemonelix

Chapter 6: Into the Darkness

"Meiko, I've got the maps of town. Do you think you can figure out where they were kidnapped?"

"Is that a challenge?"

" _No ma'am!_ Uh, Gackpo, can you and Gumi figure out what weaponry they have with this computer, and find something to counter it effectively?"

"Yeah-OW!"

"Hurry up, you purple idiot!"

"... Luka-chan, please make sure they don't murder each other, and please get a file on what members of UTAU will most likely be there."

"... Sure."

"Len, get me a time for the kidnapping."

"Already on it."

"Good. Miku, can you convince Teto to give up some of her information on UTAU?"

"Eh."

Kaito smiled as he assigned the team off on their next tasks. "Excellent. Rin, I have something special for you."

As Rin stepped towards him, uncertain of what to do, he handed her a plastic bottle, filled with blue liquid. "You said you worked at a chemical factory in Sapporo, right?" Said Kaito in that big-brotherly way of his. "Could you please figure out what this is?"

Rin shrugged. "Shouldn't be too hard."

She took the bottle and jogged lightly over to the station that had been deemed hers to work on. The past month had been crazy after UTAU was found to be active in Crypton in the case with Ruko. The real Prima had been rescued, and had worked with the Crew on a few cases around town, mainly those involving thefts and things that required more legal action than physical action.

Their latest case was most likely the craziest: Kaai Yuki, the sweethearted girl whom Rin had dived into a burning building to save, had been kidnapped by UTAU, along with the young woman who was her legal guardian, Lily Masuda. Naturally, the job had gone to the Crypton Crew, who was already working diligently(albeit a little dysfunctionally) every minute of the day.

Over the month, the Crew had also gotten about making Rin more at home, hence the workstation. Rin pulled on a pair of goggles, some gloves and scrubs before grabbing a pair of tweezers and using them to pick up a cotton ball and dip it in the solution. "Appears to be somewhat safe," she muttered, looking apprehensive as she examined it from all angles. She laid it on a Petri dish, where the liquid seeped a little out of the cotton ball and onto the dish, almost clear enough to see through.

"Hey, Rin."

She whipped around and nearly stabbed Len in the chest with her tweezers. "Give me some warning next time!" She complained. He simply smiled sheepishly in response.

"Ergh, I haven't gotten to tell you this yet, but, um, sorry about the whole thing with the cat the other day," he mumbled. Rin snorted, but acknowledged his apology.

She wouldn't let him go just yet. She needed to play a few games with the poor shota.

"Which case with the cat? We've spent this entire month rescuing cats," she offered, fluttering her eyelashes at him. She could _see_ his internal groan of pain as he struggled to continue smiling at her. "Was it the one with Mr. Porkpie?"

Len coughed into his sleeve inconspicuously. "Not really. I meant the one with Fluffy," he muttered. "The first case. Sorry if I made you feel awkward."

 _Ah. So that' the issue._ "Oh, no biggie," she said, shrugging as she lifted the cotton swab to her nose and took a sniff. Even as she did, however, she felt her vision going dark. This wasn't something safe. It was chloroform.

"Rin? RIN!"

* * *

This time, when Rin came to, she was sitting at her workstation, the Crew gathered around her again. "You really scared us there, Rinny," chided Luka, who was fanning her with a copy of National Geographic. "Please don't do that again. How many times have you passed out in this story already? Also, what was _in_ that bottle?"

Rin shook the residual _fry_ out of her mind. "Chloroform," she managed. "Where were Yuki and Miss Masuda kidnapped?"

"At Yuki's school," offered Meiko.

"Exactly. Whoever kidnapped them probably pretended to be a janitor, and while talking to them, prepared a cloth with what _seemed_ to be all-purpose cleaner and knocked them out with the chloroform," explained Rin.

Kaito nodded. "Len, have you figured out the timeframe yet?"

"About from nine to nine-fifteen in the morning, right when school started."

"Great. I'll hack the school security cams to try and figure out what their escape vehicle looked like. We can use that, and Meiko's approximate location, to pinpoint exactly where they're being held. Okay?"

"AYE!"

* * *

So far, the case was on a roll.

With a little help from Prima(who let them access some things _without_ having Kaito hack his way in) they managed to locate the hostages. According to the data they'd accumulated, Yuki and Lily were being held at a warehouse, just outside Crypton's downtown area.

The warehouse was old. _Really_ old. And surrounded by a field of dead grass.

Perfect for a small group of about ten people to be hiding, in wait for a good opportunity to strike.

Prima was watching the warehouse intently through a pair of binoculars as Miku wriggled down the roof, having put her ear to the chimney and listened closely. "Well?"

"They've got Lily and Yuki in there," confirmed Miku, pulling off her gloves, "and someone named Oliver. By the sounds of it, Oliver isn't much older than Yuki, and he's in a lot of pain." She looked rather distressed. "We need to get in there, fast. They've got weapons, and they're not afraid to use them. At all."

Prima turned to face the team. "Alright. We're facing some really dangerous people. Just in case any of us don't make it out, I suggest you say your goodbyes now," she said, her expression solemn and sad. She pulled out a cell phone and began to text someone.

Rin watched as Meiko and Kaito embraced, with the normally dorky Kaito gentle and comforting the brunette, who appeared to be crying a little. Gackpo hesitantly approached Gumi, poking his fingers together anxiously. She, in response, pulled his face down and kissed him.

"Hey."

Swinging around, she found Len with his hands in his pockets. "Hey," she replied, tempted to jump on him and spew out everything. _Why is he such a hot mess…_

Len suddenly spread his arms out, silently making a request. Seeing no harm in it, Rin stepped forwards and fell into his embrace, allowing herself a single moment of weakness.

"I'm scared," she murmured into his chest.

Smiling, he laid his chin on top of her head. "Rin, you have every right to be scared. We've never been through such things together before."

 _Ah. I knew he'd bring it up._

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about," she lied sheepishly, pulling away from him. _Damn my beating heart..._

Len sighed and bent down a little to look her in the eye. "I'm sorry, Rin. I knew we were engaged the whole time, since our parents announced it. Forgive me?"

Rin's heart cracked as the weight of this realization suddenly struck her like a gong. _He could have stopped me from going to Sapporo, and he didn't…_

"What do you mean?" She managed loudly, blinking away a few tears before they even materialized as she turned away from him.

"Rin-"

"I'm sorry, Len," she said, her voice as cold as steel as she turned back to face him, "but I am not the same Rin that you once knew."

* * *

 _You idiot you idiot you idiot what the frick frack whiddle whack snap back have you done?!_ Screamed Len's mind as he sat under a tree, waiting for the rest of the team to get ready to move out. _Why did you tell her that, of all the things and times you could have told her?! You baka!_

"I had to," he murmured. "If we die in this, I want her to know at least that I'm sorry."

 _You're still an idiot._

Gackpo walked over, looking rather condescending. "Lenners, I have no clue what you've done," he began, "but it was probably a bad move. Gumi's about three seconds away from throttling you. So's Miku, but Luka's holding her back."

"Great. Luka-nee-san isn't throttling me? That's a relief," groaned Len. "What about Meiko?"

"Get your gear together!" Snapped Gackpo, causing Len's head to fly up. "Rin's having an emotional meltdown, and we're about rush into UTAU territory. That was not a great time to tell her… Whatever it is you told her!"

" _I know!"_ Retorted Len. "I had to tell her, in case we die!"

Gackpo shook his head. "You know what? You owe Rin-chan a long apology after this," he scolded. "But here. Take this. You'll need it to protect yourself, in case we actually get into a fight."

He held out one of his katanas, waiting for Len to take it. "Thanks," said the blond curtly, wrapping his fingers around the handle and getting a feel of the weapon. The two of them often sparred with Gackpo's katanas in their free time, and Len was already proficient in the use of the weapon. They just hadn't really gotten to use it… In the field, as one might say.

"Alright, everyone," called Prima, putting her binoculars away, "we're heading in."

The group gathered around her, awaiting instruction. "One last cheer, for old times sake?" Asked Luka rather weakly. The team nodded and put their hands in the centre.

"When 911 can't…"

"...We can."

"Crypton Crew, let's go!"

Admittedly, the cheer did nothing, but it did give Len a little more courage.

And for Rin's sake, he really did need a little more courage.

* * *

"On three," mouthed Prima, her back against the door as she mimed pulling it aside. Everyone nodded and prepared for armageddon.

"One… Two… Three!"

Flinging the door aside, Prima pointed her pistol at the interior of the warehouse and dashed in. Surprisingly, there was no one inside.

"... What."

Meiko pointed at a trashcan sitting lopsided on a trapdoor. "There."

She stormed ahead and kicked the can out of the way before pulling up the trapdoor and dropping down. Gumi ran up ahead to follow her, and Rin quickly jumped in after her, pulling out the revolver that she'd become more accustomed to using during the month, after Gumi and Mayu exchanged blueprints and experiments for a substantial amount of weaponry.

Prima dropped down from the trapdoor as well, already holding out her pistol. "Ready?" She whispered, gesturing forwards. In whatever flickering light source UTAU had set up, the Crew could spot the shadows of three limp figures.

Rin took in a deep breath and nodded.

 _This is it._

 _I have no regrets._

"STOP! YOU ARE ALL UNDER ARREST! PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR WHERE I CAN SEE THEM! ALSO, REMEMBER THAN ANYTHING YOU SAY CAN AND WILL BE HELD AGAINST YOU!" Yelled Prima, running into the room, Meiko and Kaito in tow.

A few people screamed, one even yelling "JOHNNY DEPP!" for some reason.

Rin ran in, tucking her revolver into her sleeve and pulling out a small Swiss army knife she'd acquired. She ran up to the nearest person bound to a chair-Lily-and began sawing away her bonds with increasing speed. "I'm here to help," she whispered, gritting her teeth in determination.

"Stop."  
That one word froze Rin. The way that voice rang with authority was shocking.

Slowly, she stood up, as if possessed. "Drop the weapons, ladies and gents," continued the voice.

Rin's knife fell out of her hand and clattered to the floor, along with what sounded like a few other weapons. A woman stood up on the other side of the room from behind a chair, holding a knife and smiling sadistically. Somehow, her red eyes looked like they were flashing.

"Tei Sukone," whispered Gumi. _The leader of UTAU_ , added Rin in her mind, but she didn't say anything, in fear for her life.

"I'm sure you all know who I am," drawled Tei slowly, tossing the knife up in the air and catching it in a smooth motion, "and I assure you, I will not harm any of you if you follow my instructions. You will leave this place as you found it, declare this case over, and never intrude upon UTAU again. Any questions?"

"What about Lily, Yuki and Oliver?" Asked Luka firmly, though she was visibly trembling. Tei laughed maniacally.

"I'll let you take them if you give me… That one."

Everyone's gazes followed the blade she pointed out, dropping them on the very startled subject.

"Me?!"

Tei laughed again. "I guess I'll let your little girlfriend choose, then," she sneered, turning her attention to Rin.

"So, then, Kagamine Rin, give up your boyfriend, and I'll let the rest of you walk free."

"No," replied Rin, firmly and quickly. Tei raised an eyebrow.

"Ohoho? Raising the stakes, are we?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Fine. Be that way. I'll give you the deal again. You can give me Len, or…"

She spun the chair behind her around, revealing Yuki. Meiko gasped as she realized that the so called "Yuki" bound to the chair in front of her was simply a doll.

Tei smirked, holding the knife to Yuki's throat. "Or you can go down in history as the monster who let a sweet, innocent little girl die."

"Now, choose!"

* * *

 **A/N: I'M SO SORRY GOMENNESAI MINASAN GOMENNESAI! I'm almost late! This time because I was out all day...**

 **As always, my author's notes will be on my Tumblr( .com). Please enjoy!**

 **-MargaritaDaemonelix**


	9. Chapter 7

THE CRYPTON CREW

By MargaritaDaemonelix

Chapter 7: Lights Gone Out

"Now, choose!"

Tei's simple words rang in Rin's ears like a bell, shaking her down to her core.

 _This sick woman… She's trying to hurt so many people, all at once! She knows that no matter what I choose, we can't win,_ she thought frantically. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Luka holding her hands together, silently praying. Gumi looked like she was about to cry. Len looked like someone had drained all the life out of him.

 _I guess it would be best to leave Len here…_ She pondered, _but… I can't let that happen! What if Tei kills him?! How would I be able to forgive myself for that?_

As if sensing her indecisiveness, Tei chuckled. "Well, then, Rin, you have a minute left to make your decision, before I make mine."

Rin turned her head ever so slightly as Lily nudged her. _Your friends,_ mouthed the woman. A little confused, Rin looked around and realized what Lily meant.

She locked eyes with Meiko, who was closest to Tei, and Luka, who was close enough to Yuki, and made her decision.

She pulled the revolver out of her sleeve, aimed, and fired at Tei's forehead.

Naturally, she missed. That didn't stop Tei from leaping out of the way, however.

In the moment of confusion that followed, Meiko leapt at Tei and tackled the white-haired woman to the ground, while Luka dragged Yuki out of the way. Somewhere, Kaito, Gackpo and Prima were working on securing the other members of UTAU-Ruko included. Gumi leapt into the scene to try and free Yuki as well, while Rin continued to saw at Lily's bindings.

As the last rope snapped, Lily stood up. "Thank you, Rin!" She said, her voice a little hoarse, and began to run towards Yuki and Oliver, who were being untied by Gumi and Len, respectively.

 _THUNK._

"LILY!" Screamed Yuki. At first, Rin couldn't tell what was happening. It was all a blur of screaming and wild hair colours and the scent of blood.

 _Blood?_

Lily suddenly collapsed in front of her, clutching her chest. Only then did Rin see the knife.

Tei smirked, even as Meiko pulled the handcuffs around her wrists tighter and pushed her to the floor. "That'll teach you to mess with UTAU."

Gumi broke the last binding on Yuki, who leapt up and ran to see her wounded guardian. "Lily," she sobbed, kneeling beside the blonde woman.

Lily smiled softly and reached up to stroke Yuki's face, wiping away some of the girl's tears. Despite the tears in her own eyes, she continued smiling. "Yuki," she said, though Rin had to strain to hear her voice. "Sweetheart, I can see your parents."

"NO!" Screamed Yuki, flailing wildly. Oliver placed a hand on her shoulder, allowing the petite girl to cry into his shirt.

"I'm sorry, miss Lily, I couldn't help."

Lily shook her head. "You helped just fine. Please take care of Yuki."

She focused her gaze on Rin, who was still trying to stop the bleeding from her wound. "Rin-that is your name, right?" Asked Lily. Rin nodded.

"Rin, can I trust you with something?"

Again, Rin nodded, tears beginning to flood her eyes.

"Please, Rin, take care of Yuki and Oliver," whispered Lily, her breath coming in short bursts. "Yuki's parents died in a car crash when she was young. I am… I was all she had left. I may not know much about Oliver, but I do know that he's a lovely young boy, and needs a good family to take care of him. And that's what I see in you."

"Take… Care of them… And yourself… Please…"

Even as the words left her lips, her eyes focused somewhere a million years away, never to return. Yuki buried her face into Oliver's shoulder and wailed, while the blonde boy, tears seeping out of his good eye and mingling with the blood from his destroyed one, tried his hardest to hold the tears back. Rin sat beside Lily for a moment, shocked. Finally, saying a prayer for her soul, she closed Lily's beautiful blue eyes.

"Rin?" Asked Miku, her voice trembling, as she put a hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"Please give me a moment," murmured Rin, lowering her face so no one could make eye contact with her. Before anyone could say anything else, she dashed off like a golden bullet towards the trapdoor, wiping back tears even as she climbed the ladder and ultimately collapsing in the dead grass outside, sobbing.

 _Why didn't I just let Tei have Len? Does he still even mean anything to me anymore?_

 _Now Lily is dead, and it's all my fault._

 _I really am… A monster..._

* * *

It rained on the day of Lily's funeral.

The Crypton Crew stood around the tombstone, all wearing black overcoats and holding golden lilies, waiting for their turns to say their final words to her.

Except Rin. Instead of flowers, she held Yuki in her arms, with Oliver gripping her elbow. He held the lilies for all three of them. Even with his eye bandaged, he could still see out of the other, and was crying silently beside them.

Meiko was the first to approach Lily. "I'm sorry I didn't know you for long," she said softly, "but I wish you happiness in your next life." Pressing her lips to a petal on her lily, she gave it a brief kiss before laying it on the dirt.

The next to give her speech was Luka, who had known Lily for some time, unlike Meiko. "Hey, Lils," she said, laughing dryly through her tears, "do you remember that time when my mom did her mother chicken thing on you, and you were all flustered? Well, I wish you have two happy parents in your next life, who can take care of you well." She delicately kissed the petals on her lily and laid it down, stepping aside for Miku.

"Hullo, Lily," said the teal-haired girl, holding her lily with both hands tightly. "I suppose I ought to say something, but I can't think of much. You were a great friend, and I wish you have friends just as great in the next life."

As she laid her lily down, Gumi stepped forwards, clinging onto Gackpo. She was crying, and it didn't look like she'd stop anytime soon. "Lily," wept Gumi, "we're all so sorry. I wish that in your next life, you'll be able to live in a violence free world." She held the lily up to her lips with trembling hands before dropping it on the dirt with the rest and burying her face in Gackpo's chest.

Gackpo wrapped one hand around Gumi before saying his prayer. "You were a wonderful older sister to both Gumi and I. I wish that you'll find the same sibling love in your next life."

He managed to steer Gumi off to the side as Kaito stepped forwards. "Thank you, Lily, for everything you've done for us," he murmured, glancing at Meiko. "I hope you'll find love in your next life, like the love you've given us."

Len walked up to the tombstone, his left hand in his pocket and his right holding the lily. "I wish you have a loving family in the next life, Lily," he said simply, placing his flower on the dirt.

As he walked back to where he'd been standing, Rin brushed his shoulder walking towards the tombstone. Yuki dropped out of her arms and snatched a lily from Oliver. "Lily, I miss you already," she cried, "but I know you're up there, watching us all. You've taken such good care of me, Lily. I wish that I can take just as good care of you in your next life."

She kissed the petals of her flower and dropped it on the dirt, returning to Rin's side. Oliver went next, holding his lily meekly. "I know we didn't know each other for long," he said, "but in that time, you were like my guardian angel. I wish that in your next life, I could be your guardian angel as well. Thank you, Lily."

He only pressed the flower to his lips for a second before placing it on the grave. Rin stepped forwards, and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, Lily. I had the chance to save you, and I couldn't. I'll never forgive myself for it. I only hope that you can forgive me for it," she said, clasping her hands in prayer over her chest.

"Lily… I wish that in your next life, I will be able to protect you."

She held the lily up and gingerly pressed a trembling kiss to its petals. "To Lily," she murmured, placing the flower down on the grave.

Someone handed her a piece of paper. She looked down to see a poem, one that she didn't recognise. She read it anyways.

" _A golden leaf drifts_

 _Through wind and sky_

 _Though gone in airlift_

 _It will never die._ "

The poem was short, but Rin found that it fit Lily. Slowly, the last few people who were standing around the tombstone began to walk away.

Except Rin. Holding the hands of both children, she knelt down by the grave. "Rin?" Asked Oliver, a little hesitantly.

The blonde girl let out a sob before gathering both children in her arms and holding them tightly. These were two angels that Lily had entrusted to her.

And she would have to dedicate her lives to _them_ now.

* * *

"I'm leaving the Crypton Crew."

The entire crew turned their heads to look at Rin, who had announced this in the middle of dinner one night. "What?" Spluttered Kaito, dropping his chopsticks to properly fold his hands over his lap and glare.

Rin scoffed. "You heard me right. I'm leaving the Crypton Crew."

"But Rinny, your three months aren't up yet-" Began Miku, but the blonde cut her off.

"So what? I promised Lily that I would take care of Yuki and Oliver, and the first step to that is to make sure they don't get hurt!" She shouted. "Look what happened to Lily! She was murdered because- What did Officer Prima say? Because UTAU wanted to take over Crypton via Lily's boyfriend's assistant's older sister's boss? For something as meaningless as that, an innocent, beautiful life was taken. I can't let that happen to two children with bright futures, so I am taking them and leaving. I'm sorry, I had fun with you guys, but this is it." She glared as if to emphasize _it_.

"But Miss Rin, I like it here!" Said Yuki, her voice full of worry. Rin turned around to look at her, the fire in her eyes somewhat diluted.

"Yuki, I'd love to stay too, but it isn't safe here."

Len reached across the table. "Rin, please, just hear me out-"

"NO!" She snapped, the fire burning again. Somehow, she found herself repeating the same words that she'd whispered into her cell phone, just a year ago, except this time, it was after a period time of not talking to Len, instead of before. "Thank you for being concerned, but I assure you, I am alright as I am. Don't come after me. I've gone through a lot of betrayal and plotting behind my back. Just stay where you are, and let me live my own life."

She paused at the door for a moment to glare at the group one last time. "For once."

"Rin-"

Flinging open the door, she stepped out and slammed it shut.

 _What is wrong with all this?_

 _I can't hate him after all this._

 _The only person I hate right now… Is me._

And because she had no other options, she ran.

* * *

As the door slammed behind Rin, the Crypton Crew sat in silence at the dinner table. Yuki burst into tears and sobbed into the nice clean tablecloth.

"... Did that actually just happen?" Blurted Kaito.

Teto pressed her palm to her forehead. "Yes it did, Kaito," she muttered.

The rest of the Crew began chittering in hushed tones about the events that had just gone down. Meiko stood up and went into the kitchen, returning with a bottle of sake, which she promptly began to chug. Kaito began to whisper to Gackpo, throwing glances at Len. One member, however, was getting progressively redder in the face, until she finally snapped.

Standing up, Gumi stabbed her chopsticks down into the table so hard that they actually ripped through the tablecloth and got impaled _in_ the hardwood surface. Everyone stared at her in shock as she glared daggers at one particular member.

"Len. Spill."

* * *

 **A/N: This had to be the hardest chapter to write. I'm so sorry, Lily.**

 **Again, the rest of the notes are at my Tumblr( .com). If you can't get to it, there's a link in my profile.**

 **Happy Lunar New Years! Gong hei fat choi, or, if you're like me, gong xi fa cai!**


	10. Chapter 8

THE CRYPTON CREW

By MargaritaDaemonelix

Chapter 8: Good Gravy, Gumi

The table rung from the sheer force of Gumi(no matter how petite, that woman was _strong_ ) stabbing her chopsticks downwards. Gackpo, whose hand had been mere inches away from the impact point, recoiled in shock as the other team members turned their blazing glares to Len.

"Do you need me to repeat it?" snarled Gumi. "Spill."

"FINE!" Shouted Len, smacking the table with one tightly curled fist.

Everyone was quiet again, except for Yuki's startled sniffling.

"For starters, you could explain exactly who you and Rin are, and what your relationship is," suggested Teto calmly.

"..." Len was silent for a moment. The Crew stared at him in anticipation, waiting for his answer. Then, something that none of them expected happened.

Len reached up and pulled a pair of contacts out of his eyes, returning them back to the same brilliant cerulean blue as Rin's. A tear or two hit the table as he spoke.

"Rin… Is the world to me."

* * *

 _Flashback_

 _BOOM. BOOM. BOOM._

" _Len?" Shouted Lola from outside her son's room, pounding on the door mercilessly. Len, however, paid her no attention, and continued to try and call Rin._

" _Len, sweetheart, I know you're worried about Rin. We all are, just come out of your room!"_

 _As Rin's final voicemail rang through the room, Len made a decision._

 _Opening the door, he walked out, surprising Lola in the process. First, he splashed his face with enough cold water to remove the red. And the tears._

 _He then ran back to his room, tying his hair up in that ponytail that Rin claimed was "so adorable" and throwing open his closet. As he dragged his suitcase out of the closet and tossed clothes and supplies into it, Leon, his father, suddenly came in._

" _What are you doing?!"_

" _I'm going to go find Rin," said Len, determined not to let anything shake him off his destination. "But first… I need some contacts."_

 _End flashback_

* * *

"So I went to an optical store, and picked up a pair of contacts to make my eyes lighter," he explained, holding out said contacts.

"Why lighter, though?" Asked Gackpo, rubbing his hand even though Gumi(narrowly) missed it. Yet another of the reasons why she was easily the scariest member of the Crew.

"Because Rin says my eyes get lighter when I miss her, or I feel guilty, or _something_ like that," he said, shrugging. "Anyways, I just grabbed everything, told my parents I was going to Crypton, and left Tokyo. I figured I was looking for a white Toyota Aqua."

"And then you showed up here," finished Luka. "With no idea whatsoever of where Rin was."

"Yeah," mumbled Len. "And she got her car a new paint job. Who knew she would have tried to throw me off her trail so much? I used that psychology on her, too. I told her I was going back to Tokyo _indirectly_ on my Twitter, and she came here.

"Len, I'm kinda confused," admitted Miku. "Exactly who are you and Rin, and why do you two know each other so well?"

"Rin's parents and mine are really good friends," said Len, picking at the wakame in his soup. "Her mom and mine were classmates in high school or something. Once they figured out they were both expecting around the same time, things began to roll downhill. Kinda the reason why Rin and I share a birthday-December 27."

The team chuckled a little, despite the situation. "Yeah, we were really close in our childhood," he continued. "People shipped us like crazy when we were younger, and eventually, we kinda found ourselves in love anyways. So we called it official and headed for greener grass and bluer skies. Those were some of the happiest years of my life."

"When we were really young, our parents put the two of us in an arranged marriage. I was told about it, but at the same time, they told me not to tell Rin. I spent years feeling guilty for not telling her, but our parents always said that it would be better when the time to actually get married came. And then the fiasco last year happened."

"We had just graduated, and it was summer vacation, and the marriage papers were finalized, and Rin found out that they had. The problem was, her parents didn't tell her that it was for us. So she freaked, naturally, and she grabbed all her stuff and ran. We all tried to find her, but all she ever told us was in one voice recording she sent me. In it, she said she wanted some time alone, and that we should leave her be. And then she pulled the thing where she told us she was in Crypton."

At this point, Len was dripping tears again, and so were some of the girls. "All I've ever wanted was to just live happily with her," he murmured, head bowed so they wouldn't see him crying. "So why is it so hard for us to get that happy ending? It's like we're fairy tale characters that were never supposed to be together in the first place."

Wordlessly, Teto stood up. Everyone stared at her in awe as she walked to the other side of the table and wrapped her arms around Len, in that motherly way of hers. "Oh, Len," she mumbled, "you wonderful child. Oh, you poor thing."

All of them, Len included, just sat there staring blankly for a moment. Then, slowly, Yuki wiped away the tears she had left and stood up to join Teto, her tiny figure seemingly shaking. Oliver left his seat and joined the pile.

One by one, the entire Crew crowded around the blond, all joining in the group embrace. "Alright, alright," barked Teto, shrugging all of them off once the pile got a _little_ too huddled, "back off, we all need our space."

After they'd settled down, she turned to him, her cherry-red eyes soft with the type of love only a mother could give. "Len," she said, "I know things have been hard on you for the past few years. I know that you've been through a lot, and there are things that you regret, but please don't forget that Rin still loves you."

"Yeah," chirped Miku innocently, "Rin-chan loves you lots! You know, she's probably more scared that you don't love her right now."

The team sat in silence, contemplating Miku's sudden words of wisdom. "So what do I do?" Murmured Len, the red in his face beginning to die down.

"Well, first of all, you need to go find Rinny," said Gumi, trying to pull the chopsticks out of the table. Bracing her feet on the table's leg, she continued, her face growing redder and redder as the chopsticks didn't move at all from her intense pulling. "Chances are, she's gonna get hypothermia, and she's probably freezing in the rain outside." They all turned to the window to look at the pounding rain.

 _THWUNK._

Gumi got up from the floor, holding her head in one hand and the chopsticks in the other. Teto winced as she looked behind Gumi, who was deliberately not looking at the dent in the wall. "With time, every problem can be solved," she reasoned. "Most of them without a frying pan."

Kaito smiled. "You see? Now, no more insomnia. No more crying."

"No more panicking and buying contacts and chasing Rin to Crypton," added Meiko.

Luka pulled Len's hair into a tiny ponytail, tying it with a white scrunchy. "Except now you have to chase her _around_ Crypton," she teased. "Think you're up for it?"

Len nodded, his eyes blazing with blue fire. "I need to go find her…"

He stood up. "And tell her how sorry I am."

Gackpo dropped everything and stood up, clapping. "That is a good plan," he said, nodding.

Gumi forced him back into his seat and smacked him in the back of the head to shut him up.

Kaito tossed Len the keys of Rin's Toyota Aqua. "You're going to need these if you want to catch up to her quickly," he said. "She's gotten about a half-hour head start, mind you."

Len yelped and ran. "Hold on! I need to get something."

He disappeared up the stairs, his feet pounding on the staircase. A few moments later, he ran back down, holding Rin's white floppy bow that _he'd_ bought her, all those terrible, horrible, wonderful years ago.

Stopping at the door, he took a deep breath. _In, out._

 _This is it._

He opened the door to step out, feeling like his insides were freeze-dried and boiled-

"GO GET'ER, ROMEO!"

-He stopped to glare at the Crew. Their confident grins gave him new energy.

 _This isn't for me._

 _This is for Rin._

Stepping out, Len began to run, searching Crypton City for the girl that mattered the most to him.

 _Again_.

* * *

 **A/N: GOMENESAI MINASAN GOMENESAI This is so late I'm so sorry I was out all day and yeah happy Family Day, folks.**

 **Again, continued author's notes are at my Tumblr( .com).**

 **Have a good week!**

 **-MargaritaDaemonelix**


	11. Chapter 9

THE CRYPTON CREW

By MargaritaDaemonelix

Chapter 9: Kiss the Rain

The rain continued to pour in buckets, splattering against the normally calm nighttime streets of Crypton City. Something splashed on Cantarella Street, followed by an eruption of tears as Rin, soaked to the bone, sat on the sidewalk, her tears mingling freely with the raindrops.

Despite her situation, a clear thought made its way to the front of her mind. _Rin, use Len's bad-situation deal-with-er-ify-er._ Rin winced as she recalled that _he_ had shown her that strategy, but proceeded to follow the simple steps nonetheless.

 _Identify what the problem is._

"Len hates me, and Lily's dead, and I need to get out of this city and take Yuki and Oliver with me," said Rin to no one, hearing nothing in response but the pattering of the rain on her head.

 _What is the ideal solution?_

Rin pondered for a moment. "I want to disappear," she said, glancing down the street. The closest intersection, coincidentally, was Cantarella Street and Disappearance Avenue. "But that won't work. Len'll find me there," she murmured. It wasn't the perfect plan, but she had it.

A car pulled up to the curb, sending a shockwave of muddy water splashing out and drenching her once again. Rin scrambled up to stand on the sidewalk, glaring at the navy-blue Toyota Aqua now parked beside her. Len rolled down the window, looking concerned as ever, his face blank and innocent. "Rin, I-"

 _Screw the plan. Here's the new one. RUN!_

"NO!" Screamed Rin, backing up again. Len winced as she stumbled and began to run, as fast as her feet could take her. It wasn't fast enough, but Rin put everything she had into it. She needed to get away, Yuki and Oliver could wait, she just had to get away from this terrifying reality, the reality that Len hated her for running away the first time...

Thankfully, she'd run in the direction in which Len had come from. By the time he'd turned the car around, she was well out of sight. A hundred thousand thoughts bombarded her mind, screaming in unison that thought that would kill her: _Len hates me._

The words she'd yelled before storming out of the house still echoed like bells in her mind, begging her to turn around and go back to Yuki, to Oliver, to _Len_ , but in that moment, her heart was shattered. She felt like she'd never love anyone ever again.

Less than two hundred feet ahead was a store with a canopy above the entrance. Exhausted, Rin ducked underneath it and for a moment, she allowed herself to breathe.

That moment ended all too soon, however, as the ever-familiar Toyota Aqua pulled up. Rin knew that she had to run, but she just couldn't-her legs had turned to jelly. She knew there was no other choice. She would have to face Len.

The door of the Aqua opened, and Len, in all his shota glory, stepped out. Rin realized with a start that his eyes weren't so unnaturally icy anymore. Instead, they were a deeper shade of blue. Rin couldn't remember the last time his eyes had been that colour, but she did know what it meant.

He was sorry, and he missed her.

"Rin."

His voice wavered as he called out to her, swaying in the wind as if the rain were beating down his very soul. "How did you find me?" She demanded, her frail voice drifting into the night sky. Len smirked ever so slightly, and some of the beautiful cerulean returned to his eyes. "I figured you'd stay away from Disappearance Avenue, so that put most of the other streets out of the question," he explained softly. "We're on Butterfly Circuit right now."

 _Migikata ni murasaki chou chou_ , hummed Rin's mind. She told it to shut up as she clenched her fists by her side. Noticing her sudden tensing, Len reached out for her. "Rin, please don't hate me."

That pleading statement was everything to Rin. Len didn't hate her after all. He thought she hated him! She shook her head, still clenching her gloved hands tightly. "I'd never hate you," she croaked weakly. "Even if you've kept so many secrets from me, I'd never hate you."

As soon as those words left her lips, Len immediately brightened and began walking towards her. "NO!" Screamed Rin, clutching her arms to her chest and backing up. "Rin, why?" Asked Len, looking more hurt than anything.

Rin shut her eyes and tried to stop the tears from coming. "If you come any closer, I'll just end up hurting you again!" She shouted, not caring who heard.

"Rin, if you don't hate me, how could you hurt me?" Asked a now confused Len.

The floodgates opened. "The moment I had an issue on my hands that I didn't know how to handle, I ran," snapped Rin, all formality lost. "I left you alone back in Tokyo, and proceeded to feed you a hundred thousand lies about where I really was. They told me you snapped at every girl who so much as looked at you? Well, that's my fault too.

"I sent you to Crypton so I could sort out my own thoughts, like the selfish girl I am. I ran to Sapporo for a year to avoid you, even after I found out the truth. You've given me all this love, and I've done absolutely _nothing_ to repay you," she snarled. "I've lied and I've stolen more than I've ever tried to make things better."

"So tell me, Kagamine Len, how can you not hate me like you're supposed to?"

Lightning flickered across the sky, illuminating Len's face for a moment. _Maker, he's beautiful_ , thought Rin, a fresh cascade of tears pouring down her face as her back hit the wall. Startled, she realized that Len had been advancing on her all this time, and she'd been slowly backing up. The thunder crackling overhead seemed to mirror Len's sudden, mischievous smirk.

"Let's see," he began, still moving forwards, only a metre away from Rin. "You ran away because you thought I'd be hurt by your-no, our-arranged marriage. You stayed away because you thought everyone would be mad at you, and specifically me. The reason I snapped at everyone was because I was afraid they'd try to pull me away from you. I still wear my wedding ring, and I'll bet the reason you wear those gloves is to hide that you do too." A foot away from a now trembling Rin, he peeled back one of her gloves to reveal the glistening golden band that shone on her finger, his own clinking against it.

Thunder and lightning danced in the sky to loud music again.

"The reason you sent me to Crypton was because you thought you'd done something terrible, and that I shouldn't stay with you," he reasoned. "And that year while you were in Sapporo, I lied and I stole and I blackmailed and I did all sorts of things that I shouldn't have done. You are my shining star, Rin, and don't you ever forget that."

She gasped as he put his hands on her face, clutching it tightly like it was his lifeline. "You're asking me why I don't hate you?" He looked her in the eye, and in that moment, in that one moment of bliss, Rin knew the answer before it left his lips, barely more than a whisper.

"I can't hate you, Rin, because I love you. I always have, and I always will."

As if their hearts had suddenly decided to beat as one again, they surged together, their lips meeting in a tender yet passionate kiss. Rin tangled her hands into Len's golden blonde hair, weaving her fingers into the flaxen strands as she savoured that one kiss more than anything else she'd savoured in the past year.

All the emotions, the heartbreak, the betrayal, the separation, the _love_ that they needed so desperately, that they needed to _survive_ , flowed out of that kiss, that one kiss that made everything right. Len fought back a moan of ecstasy as Rin pulled herself closer to him, her soft lips still pressed against his in that earth-shattering kiss.

It was perfect.

Gasping for breath, Rin managed to pull away from him, tears still streaming down her face. "Len," she whispered, brushing her thumb underneath his eyes, those beautiful cerulean eyes, wiping away the few tears of sheer joy. "I'm so sorry, I-"

Len cut her off by wrapping his arms around her. "There's nothing you have to be sorry for," he replied softly. She pushed her face into his chest and held onto him tightly as he rested his chin on the top of her head, a small smile adorning his face.

For a moment, everything was just silent, except for the rain, which had miraculously (nearly) stopped. It was a nice kind of silence, a silence that spoke volumes. It said "don't interrupt, they're having a moment" and "everything's going to be alright".

"I love you Len, I really do," whispered Rin. "And I love you too, Rin," he whispered back, his hot breath tickling her ear.

"What'll we do now?" She asked, pulling back to look him in the eye.

"This'll work, I guess," he murmured, pulling her bow out of his pocket and affixing it where it was meant to be.

"No, Len, I mean, what do we do about the whole… Shenanigans?" She tried, waving around inexpressively as she silently rejoiced the return of her bow to its home.

Len chuckled. It was this side of Rin that had made him fall in love with her in the first place. "You mean our messed up marriage?"

Thinking about it for a moment, Rin nodded. "Yeah. That works."

"I've thought about it," pondered Len out loud and looking contemplative. An explosive gigglesnort escaped Rin's lips as she imagined him wearing glasses and teaching in an university. "Maybe the whole arranged marriage could be just the registration," he explained. "And we could have the ceremony sometime soon."

Rin gasped as the words clicked in her mind. "Len-"

Len cut her off again by pulling her into another kiss, a slow kiss, just as perfect as the last one. He scooped her legs up from underneath her and picked her up, spinning her around and around like he used to, what seemed like an eternity ago.

"Marry me, Rin," he murmured against her lips. Rin smiled softly. It wasn't like the proposal she'd imagined he'd give her, and _wasn't it supposed to be "will you marry me?",_ but it was just as romantic and ten times better.

And maybe her childhood dream of running away with Len like Romeo and Cinderella did in that song they'd grown up hearing hadn't come true. Maybe their aspirations for brilliant, scientific occupations weren't going to kick off properly. Rin realized that all those dreams didn't matter, as long as she had Len, and he had her.

So she looked him in the eye, and with all the love she'd ever had for him, she said the one word, the one word that ended an era of glory and defeat and began one of bliss and good fortune, and more happiness to come.

"Yes."

* * *

 **A/N: It's almost over. The first episode in the adventures of the Crypton Crew is almost over. *bawls a river***

 **It has come to my attention that magically, when I put my tumblr into the document, it reduces itself to ".com". As well, taking the link from my profile tends to result in refreshing the page. Not really sure what's going on, but my tumblr is margaritadaemonelix-dot-tumblr-dot-com, but typed out normally... I have a lot of notes this week, so please be sure to check them out!**

 **One more chapter, guys! One more chapter, and our precious children will find their happy ending!**

 **-MargaritaDaemonelix**


	12. Chapter 10

THE CRYPTON CREW

By MargaritaDaemonelix

Chapter 10: Top of the World

"Get back here, you two, and get into bed!" Shouted Luka as she chased down a giggling Yuki and a less enthusiastic, exhausted and quite frankly, unwilling Oliver across the kitchen, holding a giant tuna plushie. Kaito had plowed his face into the cushions long ago to try and muffle his laughter at seeing his cousin so worked up _about two kids_. Miku was not so reserved and was laughing her face off, struggling to breathe in her laughter.

Teto sat simply at the door, waiting for Len to return, preferably with Rin. The blondes had taken off about two hours ago, and Len had left his cell phone on his dresser(Gackpo figured that one out when he tried to call the poor child). Yuki and Oliver were still up, yes, but they were just anxious for their new legal guardian and her unfortunate shota of a husband.

A few things clicked together in her shippy, teenaged mind. _Gadzooks, does that mean Len is going to be their foster father? Sakes, m'dears are going to have proper families for the first time in their lives!_ She squealed giddily, nearly spilling the pile of towels in her lap all over the floor and earning her a weird look from Kaito and Gumi.

The past hour had been eventful. After Rin's storming out the house, Gumi's fiery demand of explanation and Len's subsequent chase after the blonde girl, the remaining family members(yes, she called them her family) had gathered around the dining table to discuss what might have happened.

It was… Hectic, in a word.

* * *

"I, for one, think Rin's trying to commit suicide, and Lenners has to prevent her from making such a big mistake," said Miku nonchalantly. The others stared at her like she was crazy, but the teal-haired girl simply continued to munch on the end of a leek. Her expression made it clear that she couldn't give a flying damn about what the others thought of her.

" _I,_ for one, think that Rin's just lost," countered Gumi. Gackpo looked skeptical, but he didn't question his girlfriend's logic. "Maybe they're both lost," he added.

"Or maybe they're stuck in traffic," commented Luka, being the more… _Sensible_ of the girls.

Meiko snorted, her bottle of sake resting beneath her chin. "Or _maybe_ they've gone and eloped and left us all their sh-."

Kaito stood up. "No, no, no," he said, eyes sparkling as he flipped his scarf over his shoulder dramatically. " _Maybe_ they're doing the tango in the car."

And cue the crickets. Teto slapped her palm to her forehead. "KAITO SHION!" She shrieked. "THERE ARE CHILDREN HERE, YOU KNOW!"

Kaito turned to Oliver and Yuki, who were sitting beside Teto, looking shell-shocked. "Well? What does "doing the tango" mean to you, kids?" Asked Kaito, holding out an ice cream cone he'd pulled out of nowhere as a microphone.

"Isn't the tango a type of dance?" Squeaked Yuki.

The blue haired man turned back to Teto. "See."

Teto looked like she wanted to smack Kaito, but remained calm and composed. "I'm sure they're just taking a while," she said, keeping her voice level, "because _they need to sort some issues out._ And I'm fairly certain they don't need to "do the tango" to do that." She glared deliberately at Kaito. "They're _lovers_. Lovers who have been separated for a _solid year_. How would you feel if we kept you away from Meiko for an entire year?"

Kaito wisely shut up.

Luka sighed as she turned to the now scampering Yuki and Oliver. "And just _what_ do you think you're doing?" She barked. Yuki squealed and ran, dragging Oliver by the wrist behind her.

Teto smacked a palm to her forehead. "My daughter is going to be a _wonderful_ parent someday."

* * *

Yet by eleven o'clock, pretty much everyone was their wits' end. Meiko had already consumed more sake than was safe in a single night. Kaito had already consumed more _ice cream_ than was safe in a single night. Yuki was as energetic as ever, Oliver was half asleep, and Luka was fighting a massive migraine while Miku read a poem drowsily. Gumi was passed out on top of the kitchen counter, and Gackpo was searching the kitchen frantically for more eggplants, having consumed all of them already.

Even Teto was tired. _Where the heck were Rin and Len?_

As if on cue, the front door burst open. Gumi snorted and rolled off the counter, yelping as she hit the ground. _Hard_. Two sopping wet, bedraggled forms appeared in the doorway. "Rin! Len!" Shouted Luka as she realized who it was.

"Shh," replied Len, more than a little miffed.

He shifted the sleeping Rin in his arms. "A little help here?"

The girls gasped and ran forwards, grabbing towels from Teto to wrap around Rin and take her out of Len's arms. "My Rin," he growled, taking her back. Apparently, that was enough to wake her up.

"Len?" She rubbed her eyes groggily. "Oh my goodness, we're back home!" She yelped, standing back up.

"Does this mean…" Miku breathed, pointing at Rin and Len's joined hands and daring to believe.

Rin blushed, but nodded nonetheless. "Yeah… We're back together."

The entire crowd(total: nine people) burst out in applause, and more than a few wolf-whistles(here's looking at you, Kaito) were directed towards the couple, who just held each other tightly and smiled knowingly. "Yeah! Rin! Len!" Whooped Oliver as they kissed again.

Rin finally noticed Oliver and Yuki jumping around the house like _chickens on caffeine_. "You two!" She snapped playfully. "What are you doing out of bed at this hour? It's _eleven,_ dammit!"

The other adults all looked around innocently, whistling to make a point. Rin groaned again. "Upstairs, you two. Now!"

Yuki looked like she was about to burst as Rin and Len(more the former than the latter) herded her and Oliver up the stairs. "Uncle Kaito says you did the tango in the car!" She blurted. Kaito _meeped_ and dove into the cushions.

Rin glared at Kaito. " _Uncle_ Kaito?!" She demanded.

Len glared at him too. "Really, Kaito, everyone knows you can't _do the tango_ in the car!" He said, exasperated. "You've got to do it somewhere more _spacious_ , like a bedroom."

Rin turned the colour of a tomato. "I think you've confused the poor children enough for one night," she teased. "Come along, kids, let's go."

Teto watched as Len draped an arm around Rin's shoulders warmly. "Wait!"

She ran over to him, pulled his arm off Rin, whispered in his ear, _outright giggled_ , and put his arm back on Rin's shoulders. "Alright, proceed like you were about to."

Len laughed gently. "We're _married_ , it's alright. We'll move out if you want us to."

The happy little family of four disappeared up the stairs. Gackpo turned to Teto. "What did you tell him?" Asked the samurai curiously.

Teto smirked dangerously. Luka looked like she wanted to make a run for the hills. "Why, to use a condom, of course. This house is getting full, you know."

At that moment, Teto's words, mixed with _more ice cream than was safe_ , hit Kaito in the stomach, _hard_. His cheeks puffed up as he slapped his hands to his mouth and doubled over, running to the bathroom. Meiko sighed and went to pat his back. "You baka…"

* * *

 _A few days later_

"RUI! I'M HOME!" Hollered Rei Kagene as he stepped through the door of their little officetel, waving the mail in one hand and his lunchbag in the other.

Rui snorted. "You were _downstairs_ , Rei dear. I could hear you watching Pokemon all day."

Rei made a noise like he was offended. "Now come on, Rui, I wasn't watching Pokemon _all day_ , I only watched _The Rise of Darkrai, Giratina and the Sky Warrior_ and _Arceus and the Jewel of Life_ ," he insisted, pecking his wife on the cheek.

Rui giggled. "Have to give credit where credit is due. Let's see the mail."

They sifted through the letters together for a moment. "Bills… Magazine subscription… Card from Rin…" Muttered Rei. It took them a moment for the realization to set in.

"WAIT, WHAT?!" Shrieked Rui. "GIMME THAT!"

She snatched the card out of her husband's grip, tearing open the dainty cream-coloured envelope. "You are cordially invited," she read, her voice dropping to barely anything more than a whisper, "to the re:wedding of Rin and Len in Crypton City."

She looked Rei in the eye, and without any further warning, she grabbed his hands and started squealing like a four year old on her birthday. The doorbell suddenly rang; Rui threw the door open and proceeded to grab Lola Kagamine's hands and continue squealing. The two women jumped around and hugged each other, while Leon Kagamine shook his head at his wife's antics, but shook Rei's hand, a huge jubilant grin on his face.

None of them noticed a handwritten letter in Rin's slanted, left-handed writing slip out of Rui's envelope and drift to the floor, forgotten.

 _Dear mom and dad,_

 _I'm sorry. There's no other way I can put this. I'm really sorry for everything I've done in the past year. I hope you'll forgive me. I've finally found solace here in Crypton, and Len and I have been reunited thanks to the work of_ _Teto_ _a few miracle workers who pretty much dragged me out of a hellhole. Len and I have decided to get properly married (like, with a ceremony and everything) in summer. I hope you'll be able to attend._

 _This letter is brief because I really hope to reconcile with you soon. Our adopted children will want to meet you too. They're just the sweetest things: an eight-year old named Yuki and a nine-year old named Oliver. I'm happy we can provide a home for them, and I'm sure they'll love you._

 _See you soon,_

 _Rin Kagamine_

* * *

 _Five years later_

"YUKI! OLIVER!" Hollered Rin, running between the kitchen and the living room in a frenzied panic as she attempted to throw a picnic basket together. Feet pattered in the hallway, but by sound alone she could tell it wasn't her older children.

"Momma, momma!" Cried a small voice.

Rin smiled as a toddler with burning blue eyes and golden blonde hair rushed into the kitchen, as quickly as her little feet could take her. "Hello, my little baby!" Cooed Rin, picking up her daughter and tickling her stomach. "Who's a good girl? Yes, you are, my little Lily!"

When Rin and Len found out that they were expecting a daughter a few months after they were married, it had been quite unanimous within the family that they would name her Lily, for their deceased friend. It had worked out quite nicely too; Lily Kagamine had the same blue, vibrant eyes as Lily Masuda, and the same waist-length blonde hair.

It _scared_ the Crypton Crew at times when they compared the two.

"YUKI! OLI!" She yelled again, picking up Lily who simply giggled. Rin envied her innocence sometimes.

"Yuki and Oli don't wanna picnic?" She asked.

Rin sighed, brushing down a few stray hairs on her daughter's head. "It doesn't seem like it, Lily. How about we go get them?"

"Yeah!" Chirped Lily, flying out of Rin's arms and taking off down the hallway.

Rin actually had to _jog_ to keep up. "YUKI!" She yelled again, pounding three times on Yuki's door. She turned to Oliver's door. "OLI!"

The door to Yuki's room opened as Yuki came dashing out, gasping for air. Her two pigtails were loose and her face was flushed. "What were you doing in there?" Demanded Rin as Lily hopped into Yuki's open arms, giggling and squirming like a wild worm. Yuki blushed furiously.

"Err… _Stuff_."

Oliver came swaggering out of Yuki's room(now how did he get there?!) " _I'm_ stuff," he said, tossing an arm over Yuki's shoulders and steering her down the hallway, Lily still babbling in her arms. It didn't seem like Yuki could have blushed more.

Rin stared at her children for a moment before giggling like Lily did. She put a hand over her mouth to try and stifle herself, only to have her vision blocked. "Guess who?" Whispered a familiar voice in her ear.

She rolled her eyes(to the best of her ability). "Only one person I can think of."

Len pouted, but took his hands off Rin's eyes. "Rin, you _always_ know when it's me," he complained.

"Well, I _am_ married to you for a reason, you know," she quipped, placing a single kiss on his cheek. He laughed, draping his arm over her shoulders(so _that's_ where Oliver learned that move) and turning her around, to the kitchen, where the picnic basket was already packed.

She turned to whack his shoulder. "You and your _surprises_!" She said, exasperated.

Len shrugged. "You needed help with it, right?" He paused to _boop_ her nose gently. "That's what I'm here for."

He wiggled his eyebrows. "Although I could be here for something _completely different_ , that's up to you," he said slyly. Rin whacked his shoulder again.

"Forgot to tell you," she said suddenly, remembering the short exchange she'd heard in the hallway. "Guess who Yuki's into."

Len's eyes bugged out. "NO," he drawled, his eyes still as wide as saucers. He immediately took his arm off Rin's shoulders, grabbed the picnic basket, and ran for the hills.

Rin's teasing voice flowed all by itself. "Come back here, you!"

By the time they'd gotten all five family members into the Aqua, it was already noon. The others were probably already at the park. Thankfully, the ride only took about five minutes.

"We're here!" Yelled Len, stepping out of the the driver's seat. Rin turned around in shotgun to unbuckle Lily's carseat, while Oliver and Yuki opened the door and ran into the fields of green.

Lily babbled in Rin's arms as she stood at the top of the hill, the wind blowing her golden hair around. Below them, in the little valley, Gackpo and Gumi were playing with their daughter, Sonika, named after Gumi's late mother, who was laughing as her dark green hair billowed around her, the sunlight turning it to amber gold. Kaito was sharing an ice cream with his and Meiko's son, Tonio, as Meiko herself sipped from a glass of orange juice-she'd sworn off her sake since she found out she was expecting. Even Chika, the sweet little girl that Luka had adopted, was frolicking with Miku in the field.

Rin sighed contentedly. Six years had passed since she'd left Tokyo, and five years since she'd made a home in Crypton.

It felt _good_ to be home.

Len's voice suddenly echoed in her ear. "Shall we, milady?"

She turned to smile at him. "Yes."

Hand in hand, they stepped forwards to join their family.

 _Fin_

* * *

 **A/N: And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the end of _The Crypton Crew_! But it's not the end of their adventures! _Tea for Two_ will be out next week, I promise! **

**More author's notes are on my Tumblr at margaritadaemonelix-dot-tumblr-dot-com. Thank you for your continued support of my stories! Get ready for _Tea for Two_ , because the next generation of Crypton Crew members get into just as many shenanigans as the original members!**


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